Yesterday at 11:59 pm, the United States ended its longest war and its 20-year presence in Afghanistan, when the last American aircraft left Kabul airport, carrying all remaining American troops and diplomats out of the country. There is much to be said about the fall of Kabul and what this means for anti-terrorism, now and into the future. But I want to put that aside for now and focus on Virginia and our small part in the unfolding events.
First and foremost, I want to recognize the sacrifice of our military, most recently the 13 men and women killed in the attack on the airport in Kabul. Two of the largest credit unions in the world, Navy Federal and PenFed call Virginia home and serve the active duty military every day and I am proud of that service. But we have many, many other credit unions with fields of membership that started on military bases to support the civilian employees as well; 1st Advantage FCU, Chartway FCU, and Topside FCU are a few. This week the House Armed Services Committee is marking up the National Defense Authorization Act. VACUL has been working to ensure that credit unions maintain their ability to have rent-free leases on base as part of that legislation.
VACUL’s own Board Chair, Patsy Stuard, leads Fort Lee Federal Credit Union, which was originally chartered to serve the employees of Fort Lee, but now serves the greater Richmond community. Thousands of the evacuees from Afghanistan have come to Fort Lee to be processed into this country and apply for special immigrant visa status. Since July 19, Senator Tim Kaine has been actively involved in this process at Fort Lee and yesterday met again with the Afghani refugees. As these individuals and families move from their temporary housing into more permanent living situations across Virginia and beyond, I hope they get to experience the credit union difference.
Other things to watch this week:
The House Small Business Committee is having a hearing on PPP loan Forgiveness. Leslie Payne, Assistant VP of Commercial Lending from Affinity FCU, is testifying. ICBA is testifying as well. I know that many of you who did PPP loans have had many, many technical issues with the PPP forgiveness process and hopefully this hearing will help put pressure on the SBA to resolve some of those issues.
The CFPB’s final rule to amend Regulation X to assist mortgage borrowers affected by the COVID-19 emergency becomes effective today. The final rule establishes temporarily procedural safeguards to help ensure that borrowers have a meaningful opportunity to be reviewed for loss mitigation before their servicer can make the first notice or filing required for foreclosure on certain mortgages.
On Monday, September 13th, the League will be hosting a meet and greet at Credit Union House in D.C. Please feel free to stop by if you are still in DC from the Cherry Blossom Race or are attending NAFCU’s Congressional Caucus.
Lastly, congrats to Jeff Bentley, Tom Ryan, Chris Shockley, Mary McDuffie, and James Schenck for being recognized in Virginia Business’ Virginia 500 Power List. I hope to see even more credit unions on the list next year.
Sincerely,
Carrie Hunt
President/CEO
P.S. How do you Credit Union? I would love to hear from you. Always feel free to shoot me a note or call.
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