November 12, 2024
Dear Credit Union Leaders,
The Elections are done, and November is here! As we enter the Lame Duck sessions, here are the updates you need.
Announcements
The next edition of “Cheers! To Compliance” will be held on Dec. 13, speakers to be announced. For more information, please contact Brad (Bradley.Willett@mcul.org).
Advocacy
In Lansing, the early post-Election days focused on caucus leadership elections for the 2025-26 sessions. Nothing will change in the Senate, but in the House, Rep. Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp) will be the next Speaker of the House. Rep. Bryan Posthumus (R-Alto) will retain his position as Republicans move to the majority, as House Majority Floor Leader, and Rep. Rachelle Smit (R-Shelbyville) will be Speaker Pro Tempore. Current Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) will step aside from leadership, and Rep. Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton) will become the House Minority Leader, with Rep. John Fitzgerald (D-Wyoming) becoming House Minority Floor Leader. Committee structures and Chairs for the upcoming term will be decided early next year.
Lame Duck session has begun. As we enter the next few weeks, our team will remain focused on a number of defensive issues. In recent weeks, the Senate FICP Committee substituted language into SB 408-409, the garnishment and collections reform package, and reported the bills to the Senate floor. As mentioned in the last edition, concerns are still present in the bill as stakeholders continue to work with the sponsors, but a fair number of significant issues have been mitigated or eliminated from the bill through active discussions with the sponsor and Chair. The full text of the current version of the bill can be found at 2023-SCVBS-0408-0B735.PDF. There has been no further movement yet on SB 1021-1022, which would amend the Michigan Consumer Protection Act and expose credit unions (and many other businesses) to both lawsuits and regulatory action by the Office of Attorney General on products and processes that could be deemed “deceptive” or “unfair.” The MCUL continues to communicate strong opposition to the legislature as we remain watchful. With Democrats losing majority in the House, the proponents of this measure are looking at this period as the last best chance to pass these bills for some time. Likewise, there has still been no further testimony on SB 888 dealing with data privacy and notification issues, but it does appear that the sponsor and the OAG are amenable to some proposed amendments that our team has discussed with them. HB 6056-6057 have been introduced by Reps. Nate Shannon (D-Sterling Heights) and Graham Filler (R-Dewitt) as vehicle bills for possible amendments to address some implementation concerns with the newly re-instated mandatory paid sick leave provisions and minimum wage increase. While some labor organizations are publicly urging the current majorities in both chambers not to amend, it does appear that greater will may be building to address targeted items related to paid sick leave and tipped wages.
In Washington, D.C., Congress is also returning to session after six weeks of recess. Like our state colleagues, they will first address leadership positions for the coming session. U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is stepping down as leader, and several candidates are lining up to replace him. On the U.S. House side, Republican Conference Chair U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) will be serving as President-elect Trump’s Ambassador to the United Nations, and several members have begun announcing their candidacy to fill that role, including U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI). There are no challenges at this time to U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as Speaker of the House, or any other key leadership positions. As they move into business, they will seek to address “must pass” legislation including government funding, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and the Farm Bill. The current continuing resolution (CR) for government funding expires on Dec. 20, leaving little time to achieve a funding deal. If they are able to at least achieve another CR to extend government funding into Q1 of 2025, it would allow the U.S. Senate to begin confirming cabinet members and allow the U.S. House to focus on its major tax reform legislation in the early part of next year. In the remaining weeks of this Congress, many observers also expect the outgoing Biden administration and U.S. Senate Democrats to attempt to pass spending priorities for 2025 and confirm as many judges as possible.
For a full update on state and federal regulatory action, please see the “Reg Corner” update in this edition of MILeague Minute.
Grassroots and Advocacy Funding
For those credit unions that have current federal PAC permission agreements on file, Nov. 20 marks the beginning of Rivalry Week against the Ohio Credit Union League! The event will extend past Thanksgiving until 12:00pm on Nov. 30. For questions about this program, please contact Todd (Todd.Jorns@mcul.org). With regard to permission agreements, please keep an eye out for a communication in early December about renewal if you are currently expired or about to. Completing and submitting these forms is not an agreement to participate in any particular programs, and we will not solicit your members or employees without the permission of your credit union. This is purely a compliance requirement on our end. Please feel free to contact Todd or any member of our team with any questions.
We are gearing up for the 2025 Lapel Pin Program to support our state PAC! The new design has been selected, and pins will become available right after the New Year. Upon returning from the holidays, current donors and participating credit unions will receive an email as well as a letter communication about how to participate in the program. In the meantime, if you have any questions please contact DaeSean (DaeSean.Ashby@mcul.org) or Kieran (Kieran.Marion@mcul.org).
As a standing reminder about 2025 America’s Credit Unions GAC, the Michigan hotel block sold out extremely quickly. We do anticipate that rooms will open up, and there may still be rooms available through a broader America’s Credit Unions room block at a number of hotels that are used for the event. If you have any questions, or haven’t yet added your name to the waitlist, please contact Todd (Todd.Jorns@mcul.org) to do so, and also with any questions.
Elections
The November General Election took place on Nov. 5. All signs correctly pointed to a tight election up and down the ballot. Nationally as well as in Michigan, former Pres. Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris. Here in Michigan, all but nine counties went red in the Presidential race, although the overall voting totals were close. Despite the Republican turn, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) defeated former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) to replace outgoing U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). In many areas of this statewide race, she “lost better” than the Vice President Harris and flipped Muskegon and Saginaw counties to blue for her purposes. Our open congressional seats split between the two parties, with the 7th Congressional District going to former state Sen. Tom Barrett (R) and the 8th Congressional District going to sitting state Sen. Kristen MacDonald-Rivet (D). As mentioned above, the state House of Representatives flipped, with the current 56-54 Democrat majority set to give way next year to a 58-52 Republican majority. Rounding out the split results for our state, two Democrat candidates for Michigan Supreme Court won statewide in convincing fashion. Justice Kyra Bolden Harris will return to that bench, joined by new Justice-Elect Kimberly Thomas, increasing the Democrats’ philosophical majority on the panel to 5-2.
As a reminder, MCUL and its affiliated PACs do NOT participate in Presidential contests or judicial races. The final meeting of the Executive Committee of the Government and Political Affairs Forum where endorsements could be considered took place on Oct. 28, and the final listing for 2024 is below. On the whole, Michigan credit union-backed candidates won in all but one seat, totaling 98.4% in these races!
As always, thank you for all that you do for Michigan’s credit unions!
Sincerely,
Patty Corkery and the MCUL Advocacy Team
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