Exterior sign for the U.S. Air Force Los Angeles Base. (Source: Shutterstock)
Events such as Christmas, the first blooming of flowers in the springtime and children trick-or-treating for Halloween come along each year with different levels of anticipation and excitement. Important to adults, but met with much less excitement from children, are the annual discussions over the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and efforts by credit union trade organizations to keep banks off of military bases.
This year is no different as House and Senate leaders begin considering the details inside the FY24 NDAA. On Tuesday, leaders from CUNA, NAFCU and the Defense Credit Union Council co-authored a letter to lawmakers asking them to officially reject any efforts by banks to be included in military base lease agreements with the Department of Defense (DoD).
The letter, signed by CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle, NAFCU President/CEO Dan Berger and DCUC President/CEO Anthony Hernandez, stated, "We anticipate for-profit banks to ask Congress for a handout by seeking a provision in the 2024 NDAA that would require DoD to treat them the same as credit unions when it comes to leases. This may include inserting a provision that would force DoD to provide the same nominal leases to all banks."
The letter continued, "The bottom line is that for-profit banks have declined to use the process available to them at the DoD to lower base lease. Furthermore, we are concerned that this effort by for-profit banks would amount to congressional micromanagement of individual base commanders to solve a problem that the DoD has confirmed does not exist. We oppose them using this critical, must-pass defense bill to cut corners."
The credit union trade groups have a long history of successfully protecting credit unions' status on military bases, while opposing efforts to allow banks to operate rent-free under the NDAA.
"Historically, defense credit unions have been asked to remain on base to alleviate the high transactional costs coupled with poor service by other financial institutions," the letter stated. "It is no secret that being member-owned and not-for-profit is how defense credit unions keep interest rates low and responsive to member needs (e.g., deployment), which improves the financial readiness of our military. Other financial institutions simply cannot match the credit union difference."
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
