In the battle of public opinion, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes you don't know if you won or lost.
The public relations battle between credit unions and banks seems to be the latter case.
The Utah League of Credit Unions started running television and radio ads last week asking Utahns to call House Speaker Marty Stephens, R-Farr West, and tell him to stop any bill that would force the nonprofit credit unions to pay state income taxes, which could lead to members having to pay higher financial fees on their credit union checking and other accounts.
Stephens, who works as a manager for Zions Bank, told his staff to count up all the calls for and against taxing credit unions coming into his Capitol office. As of Monday night — the first day of the 2003 Legislature — Stephens says 379 people called saying credit unions should be taxed; 255 called to say "don't tax them."
That's just the opposite of what the credit union league would have expected.
But there's a reason: The Utah Bankers Association, which has been pushing to have the largest credit unions taxed as banks are, started a grass-roots telephoning campaign into Stephens' office.
In addition, the banks quickly got on the airwaves with TV and radio ads pitching the industry's case for taxing credit unions.
And all this before Rep. Jeff Alexander's tax-credit-unions bill had even hit the street.
"We did send out e-mails to our supporters telling them that if they didn't like the credit unions' ad, to call Marty's number," which is the same number listed in the credit union advertisements, said Howard Headlee, president of the Utah Bankers Association.
However, Headlee adds, they didn't get the e-mails out for several days after the credit union ads started running, and "almost from the start some people were calling in objecting to the ads, which we think were quite negative."
Scott Earl, Utah League of Credit Unions president, said Tuesday the league has not rallied support via e-mails to league members. "All the calls are consumer-driven through the ads, although we plan to contact our members directly soon." He added that his group is working on new ads that won't mention Stephens by name, "but focus more on the whole Legislature and our message."
"We fear legislative leadership may be fast-tracking this bill" without giving time for citizens to react, Earl said. "It could be another HB320 — where a bill goes through quickly and then there's a tremendous public reaction later."
Several years ago, HB320 reworked utility company appeals through the Public Service Commission and was killed by the following Legislature after much controversy.
In any case, Stephens says House telephone operators have been tied up with the bank/credit union calls at times the past several days.
"It's clear both sides have got their people, their employees, calling in," Stephens said. Because of such a mixed message, the telephone calls "have not had an impact on me on this issue. Although it may have other impacts on me in other ways."
Stephens refers to his decision whether to run for governor or not in 2004 — and whether if he does run he can be successful with a well-funded group like the credit unions against him.
"I'll make my decision (on the governor's race) sometime this spring," Stephens said. He has clearly been considering the race and has amassed a $150,000 campaign account, the largest any legislator has ever put together.
Meanwhile, the UBA has been buying TV and radio time to run its own advertisements in answer to the credit union public campaign. "Three of our ads ran during the Jazz game last night" on KJZZ, Headlee said.
The ads don't ask the viewer to call Stephens — the UBA private e-mail campaign did that. Rather, the bank ads say if large credit unions are making millions of dollars in "profits," then they should pay taxes like banks.
Headlee said the state's largest two credit unions — America First and Mountain America — last year together had $33 million in retained earnings, which the bankers say is just another phrase for profits.
E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com