WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives passed a bill that would reduce credit union boards' minimum meeting requirements, an uncontroversial measure in Congress that was passed without a recorded vote.
The House approved the legislation, introduced by Reps. Juan Vargas, D-Calif., and Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., via a voice vote. The law, which is supported by the Credit Union National Association, would allow some federal credit union boards to meet at least six times per year instead of the current once per month.
The bill would still require monthly meetings for boards of new credit unions during their first five years, and for credit unions with a low rating given by their regulatory examiners.
"Credit unions need to spend their time working with their members, not wasting valuable resources and staff-time checking the box on monthly meetings that may not be necessary," said House Financial Services Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., on the House floor.
Along with the credit union bill, the House passed two other bills under suspension of the rules — a mechanism that allows two-thirds of members voting to move quickly on legislation that is typically reserved for uncontroversial measures.
One of the bills, the Expanding Access to Capital for Rural Job Creators Act," aims to help rural small businesses by directing the Small Business Advocate at the Securities and Exchange Commission to identify problems faced by rural businesses when trying to access capital to grow.
Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.V., introduced the bill, which passed in a voice vote.
Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., the new chair of the House finance subcommittee on capital markets, also introduced a bill that was passed by the House. The "The Financial Exploitation Prevention Act of 2023" passed in a unanimous 419-0 vote, would delay the redemption period for a security "reasonably believed" to be held by a senior being financially exploited.
All three bills now go to the Senate.
