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800.995.9064 Phone | 877.928.6397 Fax
8205 SW Creekside Pl, Ste 220 Beaverton, Oregon 97008
33301 9th Ave South, Ste 200 Federal Way, Washington 98003
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The Association works with Oregon, Washington and federal policy makers, coalitions and consumer groups to keep credit union powers strong and give credit unions the opportunity to thrive. Northwest consumers have the best access to credit unions in the nation because of our unsurpassed operating environment.
In order to keep the credit union charter strong, the Association maintains full-time staff as well as contract lobbyists in Salem and Olympia Each year the Association tracks hundreds of bills with an appreciable impact on credit union operations, and seeks to amend legislation that would be harmful to our credit union members.
Policy Objectives & Position Papers
Policy objectives represent long-term positions adopted by the Association on legislative issues. Position papers are summary documents used to address and summarize legislative issues important to credit unions.
Project Differentiation
Project Differentiation is a statement of the credit union commitment to members and part of an effort to refocus attention on how to best communicate the credit union difference. Participating in Project Differentiation has led many credit unions to examine how they incorporate the cooperative principles of credit unions into the everyday work of serving members, and how to proactively communicate these activities to members, legislators, and consumers.
VOCUS
VOCUS is the Association’s grassroots advocacy tool that gives you the opportunity to quickly and effectively communicate with policy makers about key issues.
CULAF & CULAC
The Oregon and Washington Credit Union Legislative Action Funds or CULAF are state-specific political action committees (PACs) administered by the Association on behalf of Northwest credit unions. CULAC is the national PAC for credit unions. CULAF & CULAC support the election of legislators that support credit union interests and are administered by boards of trustees.
Contacting Lawmakers
There will be times when the Northwest Credit Union Association will ask you to contact your state or federal legislators about issues important to credit unions. Contacting your legislators isn’t as intimidating as many believe. In fact, legislators are usually happy to hear from you. This section is a step by step guide to contacting your lawmakers.
Online Advocacy Training
The political strength of the credit union movement comes from its grassroots—an army of advocates that does everything from meeting with state and federal representatives and providing the Association with information on local candidates, to attending governmental affairs events in Olympia, Salem and Washington, D.C. and promoting fundraising activities for political action. Training this corp of advocates to be effective is paramount.
Project Zip Code
Project Zip Code is a secure program that counts your credit union members and identifies them by congressional district, state legislative district and county. These numbers are then combined with data from credit unions nationwide to aide in federal and state advocacy efforts. The master census that results from credit unions running PZC helps demonstrate the strength of credit union membership across the nation.
Credit Union Advocates
The Credit Union Advocates program welcomes credit union staff, board members and volunteers whose purpose is to build an active "army" of credit union advocates for various political and legislative tasks like meeting and lobbying legislators, writing and reporting on Credit Union Advocates activities in newsletters and at chapter meetings, and organizing letter-writing campaigns on targeted legislative issues.
