ALBANY, N.Y. – The New York State Assembly and Senate ended their 2004 legislative session on June 29 with both houses approving the Credit Union Membership Parity Act of 2004. The bill is now headed for Gov. George Pataki's desk and is expected there sometime over the summer. The measure, sponsored in both houses by their respective banking chairs – Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan (D-Queens) and Sen. Hugh Farley (R-Capital) – would provide state-chartered credit unions with membership qualifications comparable to those of federal credit unions, including: increasing the number of persons from an employer group that can be added to a CU's field-of-membership from 500 to 3,000; amending the definition of family member to include siblings, stepparents, stepchildren and stepsiblings; and allowing CUs to make business loans to organizations that are CU members, subject to the same dollar limit that apply to natural person members receiving MBLs. New York State Credit Union League President/CEO William Mellin said the bill is another important step towards strengthening the state charter for New York's state-chartered CUs. He thanked the legislative sponsors of the bill for their support and leadership.