December 16, 2025

Dear Credit Union Leaders,

The Holiday Season has arrived, and hopefully folks are wrapping up pressing projects and preparing to spend time with family! As we close out the year, here are the updates you need.

Advocacy

In Lansing, the biggest news over the last two weeks centered on the state’s appropriation process. The annual list of “work project” appropriations, money that was appropriated in prior years and carried forward during the related project implementations, was presented to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees last week. Under Michigan law, either chamber’s committee can unilaterally disapprove the continuation of these projects, but the little-known procedure is rarely used and usually only for non-performing or dormant projects. However, House Appropriations Committee disapproved $645 million in ongoing projects citing “waste, fraud, and abuse” – however, the cuts also appear to include many key and newer infrastructure, economic development, job creation, public health, and community enhancement projects for communities and organizations across Michigan. The full impact of the cuts and whether the Senate and Governor will attempt to re-negotiate any of these items is yet to be determined. 

Our team continues working with stakeholders and the sponsor on a bill that would expand investment options for public entities to include certain federal entities. As mentioned in the last addition, concerns over the legislation as drafted include an apparently inadvertent exclusion of credit unions from being able to advise and assist these entities in making these investments, and more broadly, whether access to these types of investments would negatively impact deposits in Michigan credit unions and banks. The sponsor has indicated his willingness to fix the inequity issue, and will continue to work with stakeholders on the overarching policy concerns as the year draws to a close. We are progressing closer on targeted operational MCUA updates for credit unions, and we continue watching carefully for signs of state-level interchange legislation in the new year. Legislation is almost ready to modernize the state’s Uniform Commercial Code for updates addressing emerging technologies like digital assets, providing legal clarity for transactions involving virtual currencies and other digital assets, and other modernizations related to wire transfers and electronic signatures.  We anticipate introduction right before the holiday break, or quickly when they return in January.   

In Washington, D.C., the following priorities are noteworthy:

The U.S. House passed the National Defense Authorization Act in bipartisan fashion last week.  The $900 billion measure now travels to the U.S. Senate, where it is expected to pass and be sent to the President.   Unfortunately, the final version did not include League- and America’s Credit Union-supported amendments to provide enhancements to the NCUA’s Central Liquidity Facility, and enhance support for the CDFI Fund.  However, as expected, the measure also did not include any harmful provisions related to interchange.

In advance of a U.S. House Small Business Committee hearing on veteran entrepreneurs, America’s Credit Union’s wrote to members of the Committee to reiterate strong support for H.R. 507, the Veterans Member Business Loan Act. This bipartisan legislation would help veterans start and grow small businesses by exempting loans made to veterans from the member business lending cap.

And in case you missed it:

U.S. Senate appropriators released their FY 2026 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) draft appropriations bill, with several credit union priorities addressed.  Under this proposal, the CDFI Fund would receive $324 million (identical to FY 2025, and the NCUA’s Community Development Revolving Loan Fund (CDRLF) would receive $3.272 million (a slight decrease from FY 2025’s $3.465 million). The Trump Administration’s budget proposal eliminated funding for both but the U.S. House’s version, which has passed the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, contains $276.6 million for the CDFI Fund and $3.4 million for the CDRLF in FY 2026. MCUL and America’s Credit Unions support full funding for the CDFI Fund and the CDRLF, and urge Congress to use the Senate’s proposed funding level for the CDFI Fund to provide maximum opportunities for these programs.

NCUA Chair Kyle Hauptman will testified before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee on the proposed FY 2026 NCUA Budget; examination and supervision parity; interest rate ceilings; capital relief; CAMELS modernization; and GENIUS Act implementation. MCUL will continue to track developments and initiatives at NCUA, with particular interest in GENIUS Act implementation as measures in our state legislature and regulatory structure continue to arise.  

America’s Credit Unions offered support in Congress for H.R. 4936, the Taskforce for Recognizing and Averting Payment Scams (TRAPS) Act as well as the draft Regulatory Efficiency, Verification, Itemization, and Enhanced Workflow (REVIEW) Act to amend the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction (EGRPRA) Act of 1996.  

Please see “Reg Corner” for recent insights on credit union regulatory priorities!

Grassroots and Advocacy Funding

Letters will be going out this week and next for the 2026 Lapel Pin Program to benefit MCULAF, our state PAC. This program is absolutely critical for our state advocacy efforts, but it is noteworthy that shipping costs have risen sharply over the past year or two and that trend will likely continue. Over the course of this year, we will be asking participating credit unions to actively consider shifting to a payroll deduction system for this program, or at least designating a central contact for distribution within the credit union, to better enable bulk shipping to credit unions. This will help reduce overall program costs and keep the pins affordable for our participants. We will still ship directly to donors as requested, but we are grateful for any and all assistance from our participating credit unions!  For our donors and program administrators, please keep an eye out for the program kickoff letter and contact Laura (Laura.Osminski@mcul.org) or DaeSean (DaeSean.Ashby@mcul.org) with any questions. 

Elections

Former Michigan Republican Party Co-Chair Bernadette Smith has announced she will run against former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers for the Republican nod for U.S. Senate next year.  Republican activist Geneieve Scott and dentist Kent Benham have also indicated they are mounting a bid in that primary. In the Democrat’s primary race for the U.S. Senate seat, clinical researcher and National Guard combat veteran Rachel Howard has joined the field of candidates with state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens.  Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson have all announced they will seek the Democrat nomination for Governor next year, along with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan seeking the office as an Independent. Announced candidates for the Republican nomination include former Attorney General Mike Cox, U.S. Rep. John James, state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, former state House Speaker Tom Leonard, Rev. Ralph Rebandt, and Karla Wagner.   State Rep. Joe Tate, last session’s House Speaker, withdrew from the Democrat field for U.S. Senate earlier and remains the only high profile candidate in any of these races to drop their bid so far. 

The Special Primary Election in state Senate District 35 covering portions of Bay, Midland, and Saginaw Counties will take place on February 3, and the Special General Election on May 5. Democrats filed include Brandell Adams, Martin Blank, Chedrick Greene, Serenity Hope Salak, William Morrone, and Pamela Pugh. Republicans filed for the seat include Jason Tunney, Chadwick Twillman, Christian Velasquez and Andrew Carlos Wendt.

As always, thank you for all that you do for Michigan’s credit unions! 

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