Critics of the resolution have called it impotent, that Congress won't pay attention to it and isn't motivated to act on the issue. But HJR1's sponsor, Rep. Jeff Alexander, R-Provo, held firm.

"I still believe this is an important step," Alexander said. "People even yesterday were saying that it's a waste of time, that it's meaningless. But in my mind, it's huge — I mean, here you have a three-member regulatory body (referring to the National Credit Union Administration's three-member board) in Washington, telling the states, basically making policy for the states. We need a change. (The board) is making broad changes, sweeping changes, which do affect our financial institutions. So this is not meaningless — not by any stretch of the imagination."

Though the resolution has no force of law, Alexander maintained it is an important step for the state, "so that we can get some reassurance, either way, from Congress, so that we can move forward, move our (credit union) charter forward to be more competitive."

Congress may not act immediately, Alexander acknowledged. It may take membership changes in the various committees to have the issue heard. But Alexander said he expects to meet with the Utah delegation, perhaps as early as the spring, to keep the issue alive.

If the feuding sides agreed on anything Monday, likely it was that the battle isn't over. Whether on the state or national level, it seems the fight will go on.

The credit union league delivered 100,052 signatures to the Utah Capitol after Monday's Senate vote, vowing to send its own "resolution" to Congress. The petition urged Utah's congressional delegation "to continue its strong support for credit unions and their continued partially tax-exempt, not-for-profit status."

"We object to the actions of elected representatives who voted in favor of House Joint Resolution 1," the petition stated. "Since our beliefs and wishes were disregarded by those representatives, we respectfully wish to make our voices heard by our federal representatives."

The Washington delegation "will be able to see that HJR1 was not the will of the citizens of this state," Simpson said, vowing to continue the fight.

"It's not over. It can't be over," Simpson said. "They'll keep coming back, because their tactics work."

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E-mail: jnii@desnews.com