Pub. 8 2019 Issue 4

7 w i n t e r | 2019 President’s Message M E S S A G E A Fall to Remember, with Much More to Do By Steve Yeakel, CAE VACB President & CEO I t’s been a very busy fall. Another successful convention is in the books, thanks to many of you who attended and/or spon- sored our events. And our inaugural FinTech Forum has gener- ated significant momentum, warranting an expanded schedule of forums for 2020. And despite the major distraction in Congress this fall, we’ve been fully engaged with the Virginia delegation, work- ing closely with our partner, the ICBA, on a variety of issues that do have some momentum in this strained environment. Bank Secrecy Act modernization, cannabis banking, CRA modernization, real-time payments and data security are all high on the list. But no issue deserves more attention than calling our nation’s credit unions to account for the reckless manner in which they continue to mislead Americans into thinking that they are “just like” tax-paying, highly regulated banks, while they continue to avoid significant taxation, misuse their subsidy and benefit from less than rigorous regulation. Thanks to the work of a Credit Union Task Force created by ICBA comprised of bankers and public policy professionals, the ICBA “Wake Up” campaign has been providing great fuel for our conversations with Congressional staff. From a one-page info- graphic to a 38-page report full of telling findings, statistics, and the methodology behind the numbers, we now have a strong base of information on which to make our case. The campaign also includes coordinated media in Congressional publications. But it takes a lot of effort to avoid getting caught up in the distraction of the other major issues in Washington, DC. And it’s those issues – presidential approval and gun policy, primarily – that played a significant role in creating a new political environ - ment for the 2020 Virginia General Assembly. Bankers will likely have some additional work to do in helping to preserve the vital- ity of Virginia’s economy. I trained in political science and have been involved in hun- dreds of campaigns from the legislative to the statewide level, over more than 40 years, and have never seen a political environ- ment as challenging as this one. As an example, here is some repu- table polling data from the October Battleground poll to ponder. One major finding: “More than eight in 10 voters believe ‘compro - mise and common ground should be the goal for political leaders’ (87% agree, including 64% strongly agree).” The very same poll also reported an equally strong belief: “more than eight in 10 voters are ‘tired of leaders compromising their values and ideals and want leaders who will stand up to the other side’ (84% agree, including 63% strongly agree).” How do you reconcile those opinions? Not well! So how do we remain engaged? We focus on a simple truth: We do good and important work, for great people and we’re very persistent.