As a tie in with upcoming Hike the Hills, CUNA is going to run ads urging lawmakers to pass legislation that would raise the cap on member business loans from 12.25% to 27.5% of assets.

One of the ads is headlined “A jobs program both Republicans and Democrats can love,” and the other one is headlined “With 58 bills to create jobs pending in Congress, only S509 and HR1418 would create 140,000 new jobs at no cost to taxpayers.”

The ads will begin running next week and are scheduled to run through October. CUNA has 12 Hike the Hills next week and 25 are scheduled through early November.

There will be a flurry of credit union activity in Washington next week as NAFCU is holding its Congressional Caucus, which will feature speeches by lawmakers and regulators and meetings with members of Congress.

CUNA's ads are scheduled to run in Roll Call, Politico, The Hill, Congress Daily AM, Congressional Quarterly (CQ), the National Journal and the Washington regional edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Under the bills, eligible credit unions couldn't increase their member business loans by more than 30% a year. Credit unions must be well-capitalized, be at or above 80% of the current cap, have five or more years of member business lending experience and be able to demonstrate sound underwriting and servicing. 

If a credit union's net worth ratio falls below the well-capitalized requirement (currently 7%), it would have to stop making new business loans.

The House bill from Reps. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) has 62 cosponsors. A companion bill by Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) has 20 cosponsors.