But, because previous ham-fisted attempts to apply bank-like taxes to big Utah credit unions pushed them to escape to the tax-exempt sanctuary of federal charters, all the Legislature can do is complain to Congress.

That complaint, passed by the House and now before the Senate, is House Joint Resolution 1. It is a call for Congress to reconsider the tax-exempt status of larger credit unions, arguing that the double standard is not just unfair to the banks but also drains state coffers of needed income.

The credit unions, as you've no doubt heard, counter that evil interests want to tax them, and therefore their members, undercutting the financial benefits credit union members gain from their association with such selfless nonprofit institutions.

We think they both protest too much. So the Legislature, which has no real power over the issue anyway, ought to forget this latest in a series of message bills and let the feds do their job.

Loans that go through tax-exempt credit unions rather than taxpaying banks do lower the take for the state's school districts. According to the bank-financed think tank called the Council for Sound Tax Policy, that situation cost Utah public schools some $41 million over the past 10 years and would deprive them of some $97 million over the next 10.

According to the credit unions, that loss is a lot smaller than the benefits credit union customers racked up through the lower interest rates on loans and higher interest rates on savings.

While every dime counts in a state with so many needs, the argument that Utahns get a benefit for their indirect tax subsidy of credit unions has merit. But so does the banks' argument that credit unions could minimize any tax liability by returning all “profits” to their members rather than socking them away for the next merger.

What must really snag the bankers' wool, though, is that the credit unions' advantage in the battle for hearts, minds and auto loans flows not only from the fact that they don't pay taxes, but also from their freedom from having to pay dividends to stockholders. Credit unions do pay dividends to their members, however.

Thus the question nobody's asking: If the credit unions are getting such a sweet deal, why don't banks dump their stockholders and become credit unions? Clearly, there is more going on here than meets the eyeshade.