Vermont House Commerce Chair Changes Retirement Plans, May Upset Future of CU Legislation

MONTPELIER, Vt. – In a surprise change of plans, Rep. Mark Young – who heads the Vermont House Commerce Committee – will not seek retirement from office as he previously announced. Young and two other GOP lawmakers stated late last week that they will run for re-election in the fall, decreasing the number of representatives leaving the House to five Republicans and two Democrats. Young’s decision could put a crimp in efforts to push forward revised credit union legislation in Vermont. As chairman of the Commerce Committee – and owner of one of the state’s smallest banks – Young made the decision to shelve further discussion of the proposed bill until the new legislative session in January 2005, stating that too much controversial language remained to be addressed. In an eleventh-hour move, State Sen. Ann Cummings introduced an amendment to H.648 which already had passed the House, that would give state-chartered credit unions parity with federal-chartered credit unions, almost to the same extent as the proposal written by the state’s Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration (BISHCA), while only removing seven words from the existing credit union law. However Cummings, who chairs the Vermont Senate Finance Committee, ultimately decided to remove the entire bill from consideration. “It’s a surprise,” said Vermont Credit Union League President Joseph Bergeron, about Chairman Young’s re-election decision. “He announced mid-way through last session his plans to retire, but he’s obviously had a change of heart. Bergeron added that, “Mark Young certainly had expressed some opinions about credit unions, and if he is re-elected, I assume he still will have those concerns. We’re evaluating where everything is right now. Of course, we have to go through an election first.”