Within days, credit union officials across the state convinced the legislature to override the governor's veto, ensuring that the bill becomes law.

"It's never easy to override a veto," Baldacci said.

While not all states have had such drama involving credit unions, legislatures across the country have enacted laws affecting credit unions this year.

Some, such as Maine, overhauled their state charters.

The Maine bill increases the percentage of total surplus that state-chartered credit unions may invest in real estate and fixed assets from 50% to 60%.

The legislation creates parity between state-chartered and federally chartered credit union by repealing a guaranty fund requirement and allowing those credit unions to pay dividends when the credit union has an adequate net worth. It also creates parity in the regulation of credit union service corporations.

The bill becomes law 90 days after the legislative session is adjourned, meaning it will become law in late September or early October.

When LePage vetoed the legislation, he contended that credit unions have an unfair advantage.

"With their tax-exempt status, credit unions enjoy a significant competitive advantage over banks," he said at the time. "This bill would expand that competitive advantage inappropriately by increasing the amount of total surplus a credit union may invest in real estate from 50% to 60% and by eliminating the requirement for a guaranty fund. I believe in a level playing field for economic competitors."

The House and Senate overwhelmingly overrode the governor's veto.

Baldacci said that the league wisely had developed a veto strategy in case the governor refused to sign the bill, with credit union officials immediately contacting their local legislators after LePage's action.

Meanwhile, the battle over whether state and local governments may deposit funds in credit unions continues to rage in such states as Alabama and Florida.

"This continues to be an issue in both states," Jared Ross, SVP for association services and governmental relations at the League of Southeastern Credit Unions & Affiliates, said. "We continue to hear stories of local governments approaching credit unions to do business only to be turned down because of the way the law is written. As much as the bankers would like this to be a banks versus credit unions issue, this is truly about depository choice. Government entities should have the right to put money where they feel it is best protected and provides the best return for their constituencies."

Indeed, Florida bankers continued to argue that credit unions should not be public depositories.

"The government gave credit unions their tax-free status because they were to be nonprofits that had a limited customer base, laying the groundwork for an uneven playing field," Alex Sanchez, president/CEO of the Florida Bankers Association, wrote in an op-ed in the Palm Beach Post. The op-ed was written in response to one authored by Patrick La Pine, president/CEO of the Southeastern Credit Union League.

The public depository fight is a multi-year battle in states across the country, Shelton Roulhac, CUNA's director of advocacy, said.

"That's a marathon rather than a sprint," he said.

Despite that battle, Ross said that the league has had good working relationships with bankers' associations in both states.

"Many times, in the past several years we have worked together to pass meaningful legislation, and we hope to continue to work with them on regulatory reform issues," he said. "Of course, in both states, the bankers continue to pitch taxation of credit unions, but neither state has seemed to look at the issue of credit union taxation too heavily. We remain vigilant and ready to defend our position at all times."

Some states this year reexamined the frequency of credit union exams. For instance, in North Carolina, the legislature enacted legislation making several changes to credit union laws, including a provision that allows the state credit union administrator to conduct exams at state-chartered credit unions every 18 months, rather than every year.

In the North Carolina House, the legislation was sponsored by Rep. John Szoka, who conveniently is a credit union board chairman.

The Alabama legislature also extended the exam cycle to 18 months, Ross said.

Meanwhile, Ross said that the Florida legislature passed legislation that would exempt credit unions from regulation and lawsuits under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trades Practices Act.

He said that banks and savings and loan institutions already were exempt from that law.

Legislatures across the country also took up a variety of other credit union-related bills. For instance, in Nebraska, the legislature enacted legislation that allows credit unions to purchase the assets of failing financial institutions, Roulhac said.