“Absolutely. I think increasing transparency especially within the budget process is an important component and then having the opportunity to hear from the industry, hear from the trade associations, hear from individual credit unions, to provide public comments and written thoughts before they take action – I think that is an important step for any public body. We should be doing what we can to promote that,” he said in an exclusive interview with CU Times.

Aguilar also said he would like to see the president appoint someone with a credit union background to the Federal Reserve board.

“I do. I think many governmental bodies would benefit from hearing different perspectives. We've seen that within the California regulatory structure, the California Department of Financial Institutions had a deputy specifically related to credit unions. I think institutionalizing that and making sure that you are hearing different perspective from an important industry is always a good thing,” he said.

Aguilar won the House seat previously held by Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) in the midterm election last November.

CULAC, CUNA's Political Action Committee, donated $10,000 directly to Aguilar's campaign. CULAC also spent slightly more than $197,000 on an independent expenditure, which consisted of digital ads, Pandora online radio ads, direct mail and a website aimed at likely voters. NAFCU contributed $2,000 to Aguilar's campaign through its PAC.