DCUC Rolls Out Advocacy Playbook For Hill Visits, 2027 Priorities
By CU Today Staff —
WASHINGTON—The Defense Credit Union Council is rolling out a detailed congressional advocacy playbook designed to assist its member credit union’s lobbying efforts this week in Washington and during meetings with lawmakers back home over the next few months. The playbook also lays the groundwork for DCUC’s 2027 advocacy agenda.
Credit union leaders are gathering this week in Washington for America’s Credit Union’s 2026 Congressional Caucus.
The package, developed at the request of DCUC members, consists of a four-page congressional meeting memo and 17 individual issue briefs that provide specific legislative asks, background and source material. Rather than giving advocates a broad list to take into every meeting, the memo directs credit unions to make no more than three primary asks, lead with local impact and tailor their message to the committees on which lawmakers serve.
"We hope that this is part of a continuing education process by credit unions to members of Congress and their staff on the issues that remain important to credit unions not only defense credit unions but the entire industry moving forward," DCUC Chief Advocacy Officer Jason Stverak told CUToday.info.
He said the effort is intended to produce "a much more lockstep coordinated effort" involving DCUC, its members and credit unions nationwide as the industry moves through the final months of this Congress and prepares for next year.
The 17 briefs cover preservation of the credit union tax exemption; opposition to the Credit Card Competition Act, a blanket 10% interest-rate cap and expansion of the Community Reinvestment Act to credit unions; protection of NCUA independence and the Share Insurance Fund; regulatory and examination reform; veteran business lending; Central Liquidity Facility changes; loan-maturity and field-of-membership modernization; military financial services provisions in the FY2027 NDAA; CDFI and Community Development Revolving Loan Fund issues; digital-asset parity; board modernization; and opposition to broad NCUA third-party vendor examination authority.
DCUC is initially distributing the material to nearly 500 credit union leaders and will also share it with state credit union leagues and other credit unions requesting it, Stverak said. That broader distribution is intentional: the materials are meant not only for DCUC members attending the Sept. 13-15 Congressional Caucus, but for credit unions and leagues conducting Washington visits over the following weeks and institutions meeting lawmakers in their home states and districts.
The central meeting memo also provides a before-during-and-after lobbying checklist: confirm lawmakers' committee assignments, select two or three asks, bring a local example and supporting data, request a specific action during the meeting and follow up afterward. DCUC is asking members to report commitments, deadlines and additional needs within 24 hours so the organization can help coordinate follow-up. Stverak said the objective extends beyond the immediate congressional calendar: issues ranging from the credit union tax status and interchange to field of membership are likely to remain on the agenda next year, making the fall campaign part of the industry's preparation for 2027.
Originally reported by CU Today.