As we shared earlier in the week at approximately 9:00 PM on Monday night, House Finance Senior Chair Julia Howard released a House Finance Committee substitute for Senate Bill 595 (Various Revenue Law Changes). Under the political maneuver, she took a bill — a bill whose primary sponsors in the Senate are the Senate Finance Chairs Tom McInnis and David Craven — and tacked on a new Part XI, the Credit Union Update.
The new part of the bill is an insertion of the NCBA-opposed House Bill 187. That legislation, which has to date failed to advance in the Senate, would open fields of membership up so that anyone, anywhere in the world and any business could be a member of a North Carolina state-chartered credit union. Thus, it would effectively turn credit unions – which are supposed to serve people of modest means who share a common bond – into tax-exempt banks, with practically every possible competitive advantage without supervising, regulating, and taxing them like banks.
You answered our appeal – to call and email your legislators to press for the removal of Part XI from the bill and the NC Senate to vote not to concur with the House changes. Your actions are having a meaningful impact on the discussion surrounding the issue.
Numerous House and Senate members have responded by saying that they believe the insertion of Part XI is a “poison pill” intended to try to force the Senate to renegotiate over tax policy differences between the two chambers. They believe consequently that the Senate may opt not to even consider the bill or vote not to concur and send the bill instead to a conference committee process to work out House and Senate differences. It remains essential that Part XI come out of the bill. The political maneuvering in the House has also threatened any discussions within the Senate over how to modernize credit union laws while fully addressing the bankers association’s fundamental concerns about certain key issues.
S 595, as changed by the House, cleared the House Finance Committee and the House Rules Committees on Tuesday. It also passed a vote (called a second reading) on the House floor. Because it is a tax bill, another vote (called a third reading) occurred on Wednesday. The vote count on second reading is available online so that you can see how your House member voted. The notable no votes were from Republican Representative Larry Strickland, and Democratic Representatives Mary Belk, Deb Butler, Pricey Harrison, Ray Jeffers, and James Roberson. House Speaker Destin Hall did not vote on the bill and there were a series of excused absences by various members. As of press time, the vote count on third reading had not been posted yet online.
Author: sdbrownlow
Student of Design