Dan Mica, CUNA President and CEO, Key Accomplishments

Preserved credit union access for millions of consumers
Dan Mica was the movement’s leader and spokesperson at the national level during credit unions’ two-year fight to enact H.R. 1151, the Credit Union Membership Access Act of 1998. Mica was a leader in the Credit Union Campaign for Consumer Choice, setting direction for CUNA and league legislative, political action, grassroots mobilization and communications strategy. Congress enacted the legislation by overwhelming margins and President Clinton signed it into law in August 1998. Absent this victory, millions of credit union members would have been disenfranchised, and the movement’s ability to grow and thrive severely curtailed.


Safeguarded an independent federal credit union regulator and system
Major financial system restructuring continues to be the order of the day. CUNA has ensured proposals—from President Bush’s blueprint for reform to President Obama’s restructuring initiative—preserve an independent CU regulator and system. Under Mica’s leadership, CUNA was an early and aggressive advocate for the system’s independence, starting with Treasury Secretary Paulson’s first press conference unveiling the blueprint, where Mica personally stood up to challenge the proposal’s impact on credit unions.


Protected credit unions’ federal tax exemption
In the past 10 years taxing credit unions has not just been a priority for the American Bankers Association, it has been a “super-priority.” They had arguably their best opening in years to try to tax large credit unions during then-House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas’s 2005 hearings on credit unions, which put the CU tax exemption under scrutiny. Steadfastly throughout Dan Mica’s tenure, CUNA and the leagues have continuously safeguarded credit unions’ tax status by forging positive relationships not just with members of Congress, but potential candidates—even presidential candidates—as well as state legislators.


Won an eight-year battle for bankruptcy abuse reform legislation
CUNA was instrumental in persuading Congress to pass the Bankruptcy Abuse Reform Act of 2005, the culmination of an eight-year legislative campaign. The legislation, as a direct result of CUNA’s involvement, preserved a borrower’s ability to reaffirm the debt—a major priority for credit unions. The bill also included a means test to ensure borrowers with an ability to repay are placed into Chapter 13 rather than Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.


Secured legislation mitigating the costs to CUs of stabilizing the corporate system
CUNA, league and credit union grassroots efforts combined to win swift passage earlier this year of legislation to mitigate the cost of NCUA’s corporate stabilization actions. The measure most importantly for credit unions spreads out the cost of the NCUA corporate stabilization plan over a period of seven to eight years. What would have been a 99 basis-point-of-insured-shares cost to CUs this year has been reduced to 15 basis points, giving credit unions a better chance to post positive earnings throughout the year. The bill could not have come law without the grassroots push of credit unions and leagues, which followed through on a CUNA-directed grassroots campaign resulting in more than 30,000 contacts from credit unions to Congress prior to the legislation’s passage.


Ensured credit unions are part of balanced regulatory relief legislation
Ten years ago Congress would never think to include credit unions in financial services regulatory relief legislation. That has been remedied under the lobbying of CUNA and the leagues. A financial services regulatory relief bill enacted in September 2006 included four provisions taken from the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act, and efforts to secure additional regulatory relief continue. As Dan Mica pointed out at the time: “Now key Congressional leaders contact us to find out the key regulatory relief provisions we would like to see enacted; that never used to happen before.”


Raised political involvement to new levels and established credit unions as a powerful, ongoing, and highly visible presence in Washington:
The scramble to pass H.R. 1151 in 1998 exposed credit unions’ political vulnerabilities. They had little recognition among members of Congress. National credit union groups were nowhere to be found on the lists of top lobbying organizations. And our grassroots presence in Washington consisted of little more than once-a-year Hill visits during the CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference. Today, that has all changed. CUNA is consistently ranked among Washington’s “powerhouse” associations after creating and putting put in place signature political programs:
  • Hike the Hill—Now brings on average 40 CU delegations to Washington a year, ensuring our grassroots presence here is steady, not sporadic.

  • CULAC: The old saying is true: Money is the mother’s milk of politics. As a result of CUNA and the leagues’ focus on fundraising, CULAC (credit unions’ national political action committee), has gone from being barely a blip on Washington’s radar screen ten years ago, raising roughly half a million per election cycle, to one of the top PACs in the nation, recently exceeding its goal of raising $4 million in the last two-year cycle.

  • Project Zip Code (with zip code data on more than 70 million CU members, we can now tell legislators with precision how many members are in their individual district);

  • Credit Union House on Capitol Hill: Realizing Dan Mica’s vision for a permanent, visible credit union presence steps from the U.S. Capitol, this unique facility that leagues and CUs built in 2001 is a home away from home for visiting CU delegations, hosts more than 100 events a year for Washington’s most influential policy makers, and converts to a “war room” in times of legislative battle.

  • CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference in the past decade has doubled its attendance, now drawing more than 5,000, and a result relocated in 2008 to the Washington Convention Center after 31 years in the Hilton Washington Hotel. The GAC is now the most heavily attended national credit union conference, adding to the credit union movement’s political clout through the prestigious speakers it attracts and the powerful impact made during the GAC’s Capitol Hill visits.

  • StratComm 110 (a.ka. the “Little Guy” campaign): After determining the banking industry was making inroads with its anti-credit union message delivery, CUNA developed and executed this two-year strategic communications initiative to change the conversation on Capitol Hill back to whom credit unions truly serve. Its main message: Credit unions look out for the little guy. Using street theater, guerilla marketing and other unconventional techniques aimed especially at Capitol Hill staff, the campaign made an estimated 65,000 impressions during the 110th Congress.

  • “Mica Minutes”: Dan Mica was recognized as an “early adapter” of the Internet as a lobbying/communications tool for associations. Posting one-minute messages on YouTube that, depending on the issue, were aimed at Capitol Hill, credit unions or consumers in general, Mica’s innovations were the subject of a full-page feature in the Capitol Hill newspaper Politco. Those efforts continue today as CUNA explores the use of social media to advance its goals of promoting CU member business lending legislation and protecting CUs from punitive interchange fee legislation.

  • Political Conventions. The Homes for Our Troops project—in which CUs and leagues raised funds and contributed sweat equity to build homes for two disabled veterans and their families that were presented during the Democratic and Republican Presidential Conventions—garnered national attention on the convention floors and in the media that distinguished credit unions and showcased their people-helping-people philosophy, helping CUs to stand apart from all the many different interest groups that attend the conventions.

  • CUNA’s Washington Presence and Visibility: CUNA is now recognized among Washington’s political establishment as the premier national trade group for credit unions. Fortune Magazine and Roll Call have each cited CUNA as a powerhouse trade association. The Hill newspaper has named Dan Mica to its list of top association lobbyists for seven years in a row. Just this year, CEO Update, an influential newsletter read by nonprofit and association executives, named Mica to its first-ever list of the top 40 association CEOs.



Spearheaded a successful challenge to the IRS over UBIT
In technical advice memoranda, the IRS has determined that state-chartered credit unions’ revenue from important credit union products such as credit life/disability insurance, guaranteed auto protection (GAP) insurance and securities and investment products are subject to unrelated business income tax (UBIT). For literally years, the absence of specificity on this issue from IRS created a climate of uncertainty and doubt. CUNA and the leagues, along with CUNA Mutual and NASCUS, sought and received an answer from the IRS. They supported Community First Credit Union’s successful challenge of the IRS’s attempt to apply UBIT to credit life/disability and guaranteed asset protection (GAP), and continue to vigorously challenge IRS’s negative interpretations.


Garnered unprecedented positive national press attention for credit unions
In recent years credit unions have received an unprecedented level of positive press, much of it the result of CUNA media outreach. At Dan Mica’s direction, CUNA’s priority has been to “break out of the box” and be in contact not only with trade press, but with national and Capitol Hill press to raise the level of awareness and understanding of credit unions. Most recently, CUNA national media efforts have highlighted credit unions as safe havens for consumers and responsible lenders amid the credit and financial crisis. Inside the Beltway, Mica keeps CUNA and CUs front and center as a featured monthly columnist in The Hill newspaper, the only national CU leader to do so.


Changed numerous NCUA rules (with significant business/cost implications for CUs) for the better…:
  • When NCUA promulgated rules to implement the Credit union Membership Access Act, CUNA was successful in persuading NCUA to incorporate a number of changes to make these rules more palatable for credit unions, particularly in the area of field of membership to facilitate select employee group additions and community charter expansions and prompt corrective action, which we also had to negotiate with the Treasury Department.

  • CUNA played a leading role in advocating NCUA’s flexible exam schedule, which permits an 18 month exam cycle for well managed credit unions

  • CUNA urged NCUA to expand the incidental powers authority for federal credit unions and successfully advocated a number of key changes to the agency’s Incidental Powers rules.

  • CUNA strongly opposed the imposition of CRA-type requirements by NCUA under its proposed Community Action Plan (CAP) requirements, which were repealed, in large measure due to our advocacy.

  • The agency has vastly improved its process of determining the Overhead Transfer Rate largely as a result of our involvement, including our recommendation for much greater transparency and a study to help ensure a fair process, which was conducted in 2001.

  • CUNA is a key advocate for credit unions on business lending and successfully urged NCUA to permit federal credit unions to participate in certain SBA lending programs that include prepayment penalties for SBA member business loans.



…And did the same at other agencies that impact credit unions:
  • CUNA was highly instrumental in ensuring the Defense Department’s Military Lending rule has a very narrow scope to exclude most credit union lending activities.

  • The SBA agency revised its regulations so that all credit unions could participate in SBA 7a lending programs. CUNA played the leading role in this endeavor, and the decision was announced at CUNA’s GAC in February 2003.

  • We were successful in ensuring that natural person credit unions will always be represented on the NACHA Board.

  • CUNA advocated against the Labor Department's ergonomics rule, which would have imposed burdensome requirements on credit unions as employers; it was rescinded.

  • CUNA played a key role in supporting the use of Matricula consular cards for personal identification purposes, which is permitted under the USA Patriot Act rule.

  • CUNA and league regulatory advocacy efforts have ensured overdraft protection plans continue to be regulated under Truth-in-Savings rules rather than under Truth-in-Lending. Had overdraft plans been subject to the rate caps under T-i-L, they would become untenable for many credit unions, forcing them to discontinue providing an important member service and a source of noninterest income.



Established unique and comprehensive compliance resources for credit unions:
At the start of Dan Mica’s tenure, CUNA was perceived by some as deficient in the compliance area. Today CUNA’s compliance program is second to none. Expanding its resources and expertise in this field, CUNA routinely provides dues-funded compliance advices to credit unions through leagues and directly, including with the highly useful CUNA e-Guide to Federal Laws and Regulations, which is widely used throughout the credit union system. CUNA developed and maintains the only electronic CUNA Legislative History of the Federal Credit Union Act which is word searchable and which credit unions, leagues and their lawyers may use to familiarize themselves with the Act’s provisions.


Advanced programs to help lower-income and minority members.
Through the National Credit Union Foundation (which Dan Mica heads as CEO) and its REAL Solutions program, a model program has been presented for other credit unions to emulate that provides lower-cost payday lending alternatives to consumers who too often fall prey to predatory lenders charging exorbitant rates and fees for this product. REAL Solutions also focuses on other model programs and training that enable credit unions to help lower-income members build save and create wealth. Just this year, CUNA forged a partnership with Coopera Group to give CUs greater access to the resources and training needed to serve the Latino market.


Moved credit unions to the forefront of financial literacy:
Credit unions have been role models in providing financial education to their members and in their community, especially the younger people who, by acquiring an understanding of personal finance at a young age, can avoid financial pitfalls as they enter early adulthood. Credit union volunteers have given classroom presentations, and hundreds have established in-school branches. But a partnership forged by CUNA and the leagues with the National Endowment for Financial Education has raised credit union involvement to a new level and captured the attention of key policy makers in Washington. Since the partnership was forged in 2000, more than half a million students at thousands of high schools have received instruction as the direct result of credit union involvement. Credit unions’ partnership with NEFE has been lauded at congressional hearings on financial literacy and by such key policy makers as the U.S. Secretary of Treasury and the co-chairs of the House Financial and Economic Literacy Caucus.


Served as a critical catalyst for system-wide thought leadership.
Time and again, CUNA is the organization that brings system players together to tackle critical issues facing the credit union movement. When some in Congress, including the then Ways & Means Chairman Bill Thomas, were questioning large credit unions’ commitment to serving people of modest means, CUNA mobilized a group of CEOs from large credit unions to develop a national program that would be a high profile supplement to what credit unions already do. The result was the Home Loan Payment Relief (HLPR) mortgage which after it was rolled out in November 2005 drew more than 160 CU participants that have together committed more than $1.4 billion to the program. HLPR has been written about in the New York Times, Money Magazine, the Chicago Tribune and other major media, providing a high-visibility example of credit unions’ commitment to this essential part of their mission.


Created the Credit Union System National Disaster Preparedness Plan.
Following the devastation of Katrina, CUNA, working with the leagues, put in place the Relief Effort and Support for Credit Unions (RESCU) program and web site, which brought diverse movement relief efforts under one coordinated umbrella and became the central contact point for fundraising and assistance efforts within the movement. In the months following Katrina, CUNA created the only comprehensive plan for all segments of the credit union movement to refer to in dealing with a major disaster, catastrophe or emergency. The Disaster Preparedness Plan focuses on the critical needs of credit unions and their staffs in an emergency. The ultimate goal: Ensure that the credit union is up and operational when a disaster strikes.


Turned CUNA Strategic Services (CSS) into a success story that annually saves credit unions millions of dollars.
CSS was formed by CUNA and the leagues literally from the remnants of CUNA’s sale of its CUNA Services Group — the elements no one else wanted. As such the endeavor began with decidedly low expectations. Dan Mica put in place a management team that in the ensuing years has turned CSS into a great success story. CUNA Strategic Services brings value to credit unions through its 24 strategic alliances relationships, each carefully scrutinized to fulfill a specific need that credit unions have in the marketplace. The result: CSS continues to be profitable, generating dollars back into the CU system. And in 2008, credit unions saved $46 million by taking advantage of the national pricing provided through CSS—value that has steadily increased each year.


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