CREDIT UNION TIMES Vol. 9, No. 25 June 24, 1998

Looking back three years ago finds both bank and credit union PAC contributions soaring. The actual 1998 numbers through April 1998 for the CU PACs totaled $242,786, including $203,875 from CULAC, $18,029 from NAFCUPAC (through March only) and $20,882 from CCULPAC. “To an extent, this is a chicken-and-egg thing,” said CUNA Vice President for Legislative Affairs John McKechnie. “Do you give money to somebody because they’re a friend; or are they a friend because you give them money? You could chase that argument forever, and never come up with a satisfactory answer.” “But I would say that the idea that we would be able to weigh in at the last minute after completely failing with somebody and persuade them by dropping a thousand dollar check into their lap…that just doesn’t happen.” Also in that issue, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would execute a major overhaul of the Bankruptcy Code – the same code that allowed 1.35 million Americans to file for bankruptcy that year. The House passed H.R. 3150, the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1998, by a 306-118 margin. The bill’s main ingredient was a needs-based system that would force those with the monetary means to repay a portion of their bills under Chapter 13-the repayment form of bankruptcy- instead of Chapter 7, where all debt is wiped away.