What the heck are they smoking up there in Madison?

Then I called a friend, a credit union executive, to see what she thought.

"So what does this mean?" she asked. "They're still going to bond employees, right?"

Hmmmm. My friend has been in the credit union industry for 25 years, and she's no dummy. If she confused CUNA with CUNA Mutual Group, there may, indeed, be a branding problem.

Her next observation was even more revealing.

"This doesn't affect us," she said. "We're not members of the league, so we don't belong to CUNA."

What a telling statement. Many credit union leaders I've chatted with at conferences and other events say they find more value in league membership than national CUNA membership.

I think the reason is two-fold. One, CUNA needs to trim the fat and provide more bang for its membership buck, and two, it needs to more effectively communicate its value to members.

CU Times first broke the news of the task force's key findings and recommendations, presented at a roundtable event in Denver attended by CUNA leaders, credit union CEOs and league leaders. If approved and implemented, some of the suggestions could signal a new era for the trade.

The task force did address the league dual membership issue, although its solution may surprise some. CUNA talking points made liberal use of the word choice, but in reality, the trade is seeking far more control over leagues.

The task force overwhelmingly identified advocacy as the number one area in need of improvement. To that end, CUNA is considering a new agreement between and among its league affiliates that would, among other things, formalize advocacy accountability.

Task Force Chairman Tom Dorety, CEO of the $6.4 billion Suncoast Credit Union in Tampa, Fla., provided an example. He told CU Times if a member of Congress is needed for credit union support, his or her state league would be expected to help support that effort. Likewise, if an issue flares up in a state or region, the CUNA system would assist in advocacy efforts there.

The agreement would also funnel all member dues – from CUNA and leagues – into advocacy. Services that don't pay for themselves would be scrapped.

CUNA said in a release it would consider uniting leagues under the America's Credit Union banner, meaning rebranding at the league level, too.

The agreement could also allow credit unions to choose to which advocacy activities their dues are applied.

So would the leagues sign? Nobody is talking yet, but Dorety stressed the agreement isn't an all or nothing proposition. Leagues that don't sign could still work with CUNA, he said, although he didn't elaborate as to how.

In admitting that some leagues might not participate, CUNA sounds like it's preparing for some potential league disaffiliations.

As it should. According to 2013 IRS 990 reports, the Cornerstone and the California-Nevada mega-leagues each had more than $21 million in assets and collected nearly $6 million in membership dues. Compare that to NAFCU, which collected $7.5 million in dues and had less than $19 millin in assets per its 2013 990. Clearly, the consolidated leagues have the scale needed for independence.

The loss of the large leagues would have a big impact on the nearly $26 million in dues CUNA collected in 2013, according to its 990. That could hamper CUNA's ability to improve advocacy if dues are expected to fund that effort.

CUNA hasn't said much about exactly what the it will do to improve advocacy results, beyond holding leagues more accountable and just trying harder. The trade has made some staffing changes on the advocacy side, but hasn't cleaned house or changed strategy or decision making much.

That's a concern, because CUNA can tighten its league affiliations and rebrand all it wants, but its feedback says advocacy is its largest problem. if it doesn't bring home a win on Capitol Hill, the entire plan will fall flat.

Heather Anderson is executive editor of CU Times. She can be reached at [email protected].