Can credits used for an associate's also be used for a bachelors?

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An Associate's is typically half of a Bachelors.  60 out of the total of 120 you need for the BA/BS. Rather than exhausting the credits, you sometimes have an easier time transferring somewhere to get a BA/BS with the AA in hand; some state systems have "block transfer" of the entire degree, rather than doing it course-by-course.

In my state there is a system like that (block transfer) with one provision.  The student has to have been in a "Pathway Program" from the start.  This is primarily to insure that the student has all the required prerequisites to the upper level courses they will take in their 3rd and 4th year.  It works well if you know from the beginning what you want to study.  The student puts together a plan for covering all the required courses so they can know, for example, which courses they'll be signed into 3 or 4 semesters ahead.  There are advisors/counselors to help you plan and stay on track.  In this way you can move seamlessly from the local CC to any of the other schools in the state university system without losing credits, repeating courses, etc.