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Renaissance Commission holds first hearing

With all the style and substance of a Congressional hearing, CUNA's Renaissance Commission held its first public hearing Oct. 2 in conjunction with CUNA's 16th National CU Symposium & Annual Meeting in Chicago.

The hearing featured five diverse panels of credit union representatives offering their views on how to preserve and enhance the viability of federal and state charters.

Among the issues discussed:

• Charter Changes: Grace Mayo, CEO of Telesis CU in Chatsworth, Calif., cited the advantages of switching to a state charter as being ability to serve more members, option to voluntarily merge with other CUs, and an environment to work directly with regulators. David Vigren of ESL FCU, in Rochester, N.Y., suggested NCUA should use its "incidental powers" regulation as a "catch-all" to give credit unions the freedom to respond to changing market conditions.



• Small Credit Union Perspective: Don Larsen, CEO of Community CU in Tacoma, Wash., and chairman of CUNA's Small CU Committee, urged regulators to seek alternatives to enhance the viability of small credit unions, rather than seeking to merger with other CUs.



• Large Credit Union Perspective: Terry West, CEO of Jax Navy FCU, Jacksonville, Fla., told the commissioners his credit union would likely be switching to a state charter, "to support our own vision and the Membership Access Act itself." Citing an example of federal micromanagement, West said NCUA's member business loan regulation, which dictates the experience of CU loan officers, is "operational, not regulatory. It tells us how to run our credit union."



• Private Share Insurance: " Gordon Dames, CEO of Mountain America CU in Salt Lake City, Utah, said NCUA has continued to regulate state-chartered credit unions through its authority over the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. Dennis Adams of American Share Insurance in Dublin, Ohio, said that credit unions had "earned a choice" of using private insurance, pointing out "It's time we use it."



• Enhancing the Federal Charter: NAFCU Chairman Jim Mills, president and CEO of Three Rivers FCU in Fort Wayne, Ind., and Legislative Committee Chair Mike Vadala, president and CEO of The Summit FCU in Rochester, N.Y., also stressed the importance of enhancing the federal charter. They reviewed NAFCU's package of recommendations, including three that NAFCU, working with NCUA, has been pushing Rep. John LaFalce (D-N.Y.) to introduce this year.



• Enhancing State Charters: Lori Rush, CEO of Universal One CU in Dayton, Ohio, and vice chair of the NASCUS CU Council, said that Congress, the regulators, and credit unions should unite to assure that credit unions will have powers to attract new classes of members and be able to meet their members' needs in ways which will quickly change. Rush released a package of recommendations for state charters, but reminded that any future changes "must not disadvantage any one of the 49 systems for the benefit of one system."