CUNA Adds Snow, CURIA Sponsors to Growing GAC Speaker List

WASHINGTON-CUNA recently announced Treasury Secretary John Snow and two authors of the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act will address CUNA’s Governmental Affairs Conference next month. House Financial Services Committee Members Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) worked with others to introduced CURIA in the last Congress and are expected to reintroduce the bill this session. Both have been long-time supporters of credit unions. Royce had previously introduced legislation to exempt business loans made to faith-based organizations from credit unions’ business lending cap, while Kanjorski was a strong ally in the H.R. 1151 battle. Treasury Secretary Snow is expected to discuss key administration priorities, such as Social Security, tax reform, and its financial services agenda as well as the potential impact for credit unions. The secretary spoke at last year’s GAC, stating the administration’s strong support for maintaining the credit union tax exemption. “You’re in the business to do good; as well as to do business…It’s a truism I think in economics; you always get less of anything you tax. Well, we don’t want to get less of what you do,” he stated at the time. Prior to Snow’s appointment as Treasury Secretary in 2002, he served as chairman and CEO of CSX Corp. He also led the Business Roundtable, a policy group comprised of 250 CEOs of the nation’s largest companies, and is a former administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Snow joins the growing list of GAC speakers including renowned military leader General Tommy Franks, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael Oxley (R-Ohio) and Ranking Member Barney Frank (D-Mass.), and Congressman John Linder (R-Ga.), a senior member of the House Rules Committee. The conference will also feature a political point-counterpoint with the Capital Gang’s Mark Shields and Weekly Standard Editor William Kristol. From the regulatory side, Federal Reserve Board Governor Mark Olson, as well as NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson and Board Member Debbie Matz will speak. Break out sessions slated for Monday, March 1 include prospects for Social Security and Tax Reform; Advocacy Advertising Strategies; Legislative Update: CURIA and Regulatory Relief; and Best Practices: Modest Means Track, among several others. The conference will conclude Wednesday, March 2 with visits to Capitol Hill. [email protected]