DCUC hosted its third quarter Military Advocacy Committee (MAC) meeting on July 11. During the hour-long meeting, DCUC President/CEO Anthony Hernandez and Total Spectrum’s John McKechnie provided committee members and guests with the latest updates on credit union issues affecting military and veteran communities.

Hernandez and McKechnie discussed a variety of topics, including:

• FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA): DCUC continues to take the lead in the credit union industry with this year’s NDAA and is actively monitoring the bill’s progress through Congress. The House’s version of the NDAA does not contain problematic language for credit unions. Meanwhile, the Senate version includes a management calling for while there is some concern about a recently added management amendment in the Senate’s version. Should the amendment be included, it will be important for credit unions tell their stories and are correctly represented in the survey.

• Secretary of Defense Memo on Reimbursable Activities in Support of Other Entities: This memo was released two years ago and continues to be misinterpreted and cause confusion. To date, multiple credit unions, have been told by their Installation Commands they must now pay market value for their space on installation in direct opposition to their operating agreements. DCUC continues to meet with senior DoD leadership to resolve these matters and invites any credit union being charged outside of their agreements to contact DCUC at ceo@dcuc.org.

• Secretary of the Army Policy on Financial Readiness Training: This memo was signed earlier this year and prohibits any non-federal entity from providing any financial education support without special permission. This language is in direct opposition to credit union on-base operation agreements which state that they shall provide financial education to servicemembers. DCUC is working to get a blanket exception to this rule for on-base credit unions, who already have h outstanding track records of supporting the financial well-being of our military.

Hernandez and McKechnie also provided updates on several other concerns, including: the Military Lending Act and resurgence of GAP restrictions, the HASC Directed Study on Military Access to Financial Institutions, S.3813 Veteran Business Lending Exemption, S.1838 Building Credit Access for Veterans Act of 2021, H.R. 7003 Expanding Financial Access for Underserved Communities Act, and Charitable Donation Accounts.

“These committee meetings are an important part of DCUC’s work,” said Hernandez. “They bring our members together, which makes us all aware of the situations we are individually and collectively working with as we serve our military and veteran communities. I invite all of our members and anyone interested in better serving their defense communities to join us.”