The New York Credit Union Association is supportive of three credit union governance bills introduced last week — including two announced during the general session at the 2020 CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington, D.C.

A credit union governance modernization bill, which was introduced by Republican Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr of North Carolina, was announced during the GAC.

The Credit Union Fairness Act, S.3326, would strike from the Federal Credit Union Act the requirement that boards of directors review membership applications and the hiring of loan officers, and provide NCUA with a record of the credit union’s loan officers.

Additionally, Democratic Rep. Katie Porter of California announced that she will introduce a bill, the Credit Union Board Governance Modernization Act, H.R.5981, with Republican Rep. Mark Amodei of Nevada. The bill would modify the Federal Credit Union Act requirement that credit union boards meet once a month to not more than six times per year.

The day before, Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota and Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska introduced the Credit Union Governance Modernization Act of 2020, S.3323, which would allow a credit union board to expel a member for cause and other purposes.

The Association supports all three pieces of legislation and is actively advocating for their passage.