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Give the Florida Bankers Association an "A" for persistance.
For years, the association has been on a seemingly quixotic quest to convince Congress it is unfair to give tax exemptions to the nation's biggest credit unions, those that have grown into multibillion dollar, multifaceted financial behemoths.
The Florida trade group and its president, Alex Sanchez, have led the banking industry's lobbying efforts. The lobbying hasn't gained much traction in Congress, but the Florida group managed to win one measure of federal support last week.
The General Accounting Office concluded in a new report that the expansion of credit unions into new services and geographic areas outside their base raises questions about whether they are fulfilling their "perceived historic mission of serving individuals of modest means."
The bankers particularly liked one comment in the GAO's analysis: "Limited available data suggested that credit unions served a slightly lower proportion of low- and moderate-income households than banks."
Sanchez said the report proves that big institutions such as Suncoast Schools in Tampa "are tax-exempt banks masquerading as credit unions."
"If they walk like a duck and talk like a duck, they're a duck," Sanchez said. "These $1-billion, $2-billion, $3-billion-plus (credit unions), they're bank-like."
The Florida Credit Union League counters that the bankers are presenting a "distorted . . . one-sided view." The league touted its own report last week, concluding that their tax exemption amounts to roughly $25 per credit union member. Eliminating it would only mean higher rates and fewer benefits to members, it said.