DCUC Urges Congressional Action to Empower Credit Unions Alongside Community Banks

The Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC) has sent a letter to House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill commending his leadership on the Community Banks Deposit Access Act of 2025 while urging similar reforms for credit unions.

In the letter, Jason Stverak, DCUC’s Chief Advocacy Officer, thanked Chairman Hill’s commitment to modernizing outdated regulations that burden community banks and highlighted the parallel need for reforms that would allow credit unions to better serve American families, small businesses, and veterans.

“Whether it’s a community bank in a small town or a credit union on a military base, we’re all striving to ensure families and small businesses have a safe, affordable place to turn for financial services,” says Stverak. “Credit unions have always been partners in serving areas that big banks often ignore. We reinvest in our neighborhoods and look out for the little guy – and that’s something worth championing together.”

DCUC’s letter outlined three key priorities for Congress to strengthen credit unions’ ability to support local economies: Modernize the Member Business Lending Cap – Current federal law limits most credit unions’ small business lending to 12.25% of assets. DCUC urged lawmakers to ease or remove this decades-old cap, which prevents credit unions from fully meeting the needs of small businesses, including many veteran- and minority-owned enterprises.

Pass the Veterans Member Business Loan Act – Introduced by Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick and Vicente Gonzalez, this bipartisan bill would exempt loans to veteran-owned small businesses from the credit union lending cap. “This is pro-veteran, pro-small business, and it doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime,” adds Stverak.

Strengthen the Central Liquidity Facility (CLF) – DCUC called on Congress to restore and modernize the CLF, a critical liquidity backstop for smaller credit unions. Pandemic-era improvements that expanded its reach expired in 2021, leaving many credit unions vulnerable in times of crisis. Bipartisan legislation in the Senate would make these enhancements permanent.

“Credit unions aren’t looking for special treatment – we’re looking for equal treatment so we can serve our communities side by side with community banks without one hand tied behind our back,” Stverak says. “When veterans and small businesses succeed, our whole community wins.”

DCUC reaffirmed its commitment to collaboration with community banks and lawmakers, stressing that both types of institutions share the mission of strengthening local economies and ensuring financial access for underserved communities.