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Congressional leaders in the House of Representatives on Wednesday included the Credit Union Governance Modernization Act (CUGMA) inside the enormous omnibus spending bill as a stopgap measure to fund the Federal government.
According to the text of the CUGMA, which passed the House Financial Services Committee in November, the legislation would update the Federal Credit Union Act to allow credit union boards to swiftly expel a member for just cause. Current law requires a full membership vote to expel a member.
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Officials with CUNA and NAFCU were quick to praise the inclusion of the CUGMA in the spending bill.
"We thank House leaders for including this bipartisan update to the Federal Credit Union Act in the omnibus package, and to Reps. Emmer and Perlmutter, as well as Sens. Tina Smith and Ben Sasse, for their work on this bipartisan issue," CUNA president/CEO Jim Nussle said in a statement Wednesday morning. "This and other Federal Credit Union Act modernizations are essential to ensuring credit unions can continue to meet the needs of 21st century consumers."
"NAFCU applauds congressional leadership for advancing the Credit Union Governance Modernization Act and commends Senators Tina Smith and Ben Sasse and Representatives Tom Emmer and Ed Perlmutter for their leadership on this issue and continued efforts to further protect credit unions," NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler said. "This important legislation will ensure safeguards for credit unions dealing with members who engage in illicit activity that endangers credit union staff and members by allowing federal credit unions establish procedures for expelling members, rather than requiring a member vote."
Thaler added, "NAFCU and our credit union members have pushed hard to advance this bill that provides fundamental reforms for the credit union expulsion process and we stand ready to help enact this legislation."
According to reports from congressional leaders, the House is expected to approve the spending bill Wednesday to send to the Senate for a vote later this week.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
