Credit Union Membership Access Act

Last updated

The Credit Union Membership Access Act is an Act for the United States government that amended the Federal Credit Union Act in 1998. The bill was proposed on the heels of the Supreme Court decision in NCUA v. First National Bank & Trust against the National Credit Union Administration, a key victory in the American Bankers Association's legislative agenda and a major setback to credit unions. The Act reversed this ruling, authorizing credit unions to have multiple common bonds among their memberships.

Contents

H.R. 1151 was introduced to the 105th United States Congress by Congressmen Steven LaTourette (R-OH) and Paul Kanjorski (D-PA). The Act was signed into law on August 7, 1998, by President Bill Clinton. [1]

History

In 1990, the American Bankers Association (ABA) and several North Carolina banks filed a lawsuit contesting a decision by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the federal regulator of credit unions. The NCUA had approved a membership expansion for AT&T Family Federal Credit Union in Asheboro, allowing it to serve small employee groups not related to the telecommunications giant. [2]

Since 1934, federal credit unions in the United States were defined as groups tied together by a single common bond of occupation or association, or by residence within a certain geographic area. In 1982, [3] the NCUA began permitting credit unions to be composed of multiple unrelated employer groups.

The bankers sued, contending that AT&T Family Federal's membership expansion was wrong and said the NCUA had violated the Federal Credit Union Act.

The case was heard before a Washington, D.C. District Court in September 1994. It ruled that the NCUA's policy of permitting multiple groups in one field of membership was a correct interpretation of the Federal Credit Union Act.

The decision was appealed by the bankers. In July 1996, the U.S. Court of Appeals D.C. Circuit overturned the District Court decision and ruled that all members of a federal credit union must share one common bond. The Court of Appeals ordered the district court to apply its decision to AT&T Family Federal Credit Union. The bankers filed a separate suit asking the district court for a nationwide injunction and to have the decision applied to all federally chartered credit unions with multiple groups.

The ruling meant federal credit unions would no longer be able to add new groups to their fields of membership.

The AT&T Family Federal case was consolidated with others from the ABA. [4] In February 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would issue a decision on the case, which would come the next year. [5] Meanwhile, in an attempt to protect access of credit unions, the Credit Union Membership Access Act, H.R. 1151, was introduced to Congress in March 1997 to allow multiple common bonds. [6]

On February 25, 1998, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that favored the banking industry's interpretation of the Federal Credit Union Act: that federal credit unions may not consist of more than one occupational group having a single common bond. This ruling could have resulted in millions federal credit union members being forced to leave their credit unions. [7]

In April 1998, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1151, but the bill still needed to pass the U.S. Senate. On July 14, 1998, over six thousand credit union supporters assembled in Washington, D.C., and the Capitol to urge the bill's passage. [8]

The bill passed the U.S. Senate on July 28, 1998, and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. [9] The law codified the eligibility of family and household members, and the NCUA to define community fields of membership.

Related Research Articles

Arbitration, in the context of the law of the United States, is a form of alternative dispute resolution. Specifically, arbitration is an alternative to litigation through which the parties to a dispute agree to submit their respective evidence and legal arguments to a neutral third party for resolution. In practice arbitration is generally used as a substitute for litigation, particularly when the judicial process is perceived as too slow, expensive or biased. In some contexts, an arbitrator may be described as an umpire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act</span> 2002 American law regulating political campaigns

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, commonly known as the McCain–Feingold Act or BCRA, is a United States federal law that amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which regulates the financing of political campaigns. Its chief sponsors were senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and John McCain (R-AZ). The law became effective on 6 November 2002, and the new legal limits became effective on January 1, 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve LaTourette</span> American politician (1954–2016)

Steven Clare LaTourette was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Ohio's 19th congressional district and then Ohio's 14th congressional district from 1995 to 2013. He was a member of the Republican Party. On July 30, 2012, it was reported that he would retire at the end of his term and not seek re-election. He subsequently co-founded a lobbying firm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Credit Union Administration</span> Independent U.S. federal agency for insuring credit unions

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is a government-backed insurer of credit unions in the United States, one of two agencies that provide deposit insurance to depositors in U.S. depository institutions, the other being the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insures commercial banks and savings institutions. The NCUA is an independent federal agency created by the United States Congress to regulate, charter, and supervise federal credit unions. With the backing of the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, the NCUA operates and manages the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, insuring the deposits of more than 124 million account holders in all federal credit unions and the overwhelming majority of state-chartered credit unions. Besides the Share Insurance Fund, the NCUA operates three other funds: the NCUA Operating Fund, the Central Liquidity Facility (CLF), and the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund (CDRLF). The NCUA Operating Fund, with the Share Insurance Fund, finances the agency's operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Line Item Veto Act of 1996</span> United States law ruled unconstitutional

The Line Item Veto ActPub. L.Tooltip Public Law  104–130 (text)(PDF) was a federal law of the United States that granted the President the power to line-item veto budget bills passed by Congress, but its effect was brief as the act was soon ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Clinton v. City of New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PROTECT Act of 2003</span> United States law regarding child abuse and violent crimes against children

The PROTECT Act of 2003 is a United States law with the stated intent of preventing child abuse as well as investigating and prosecuting violent crimes against children. "PROTECT" is a backronym which stands for "Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploitation of Children Today".

The 1998 Internet Tax Freedom Act is a United States law authored by Representative Christopher Cox and Senator Ron Wyden that established national policy regarding federal and state taxation of the internet, based upon its unique characteristics as a mode of interstate and global commerce uniquely susceptible to multiple and discriminatory taxation. The law prohibits state and local governments from imposing taxes directly on the internet or online activity, such as email taxes, internet access taxes, bit taxes, and bandwidth taxes. It categorizes taxes targeted specifically to the internet itself or to online commerce as “discriminatory.” Discriminatory taxes are outlawed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Credit Union National Association</span> U.S. trade association

The Credit Union National Association, commonly known as CUNA, is a national trade association for both state- and federally chartered credit unions located in the United States. CUNA provides member credit unions with trade association services, such as lobbying, regulatory advocacy, professional development, and professional services management. The organization operates out of its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and an operations center in Madison, Wisconsin. CUNA's president and chief executive officer Jim Nussle has led the organization since September 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truliant Federal Credit Union</span>

Truliant Federal Credit Union is a nonprofit financial institution based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Chartered in 1952, the credit union provides financial guidance and services to members in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. As of September 2021, Truliant has more than 280,000 members and $3.6 billion in assets.

The Cherokee Freedmen controversy was a political and tribal dispute between the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and descendants of the Cherokee Freedmen regarding the issue of tribal membership. The controversy had resulted in several legal proceedings between the two parties from the late 20th century to August 2017.

The Pledge Protection Act is proposed legislation in the United States Congress that seeks to deprive all Federal courts, including the Supreme Court, of jurisdiction to hear constitutional challenges to the Pledge of Allegiance or its recitation. The bill was first introduced in response to a constitutional challenge to the Pledge by atheist Michael Newdow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Credit unions in the United States</span>

Credit unions in the United States served 100 million members, comprising 43.7% of the economically active population, in 2014. U.S. credit unions are not-for-profit, cooperative, tax-exempt organizations. The clients of the credit unions become partners of the financial institution and their presence focuses in certain neighborhoods because they center their services in one specific community. As of March 2020, the largest American credit union was Navy Federal Credit Union, serving U.S. Department of Defense employees, contractors, and families of servicepeople, with over $125 billion in assets and over 9.1 million members. Total credit union assets in the U.S. reached $1 trillion as of March 2012. Approximately 236,000 people were directly employed by credit unions per data derived from the 2012 National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Credit Union Directory. As of 2019, there were 5,236 federally insured credit unions with 120.4 million members, and deposits of $1.22 trillion.

National Credit Union Administration v. First National Bank & Trust Co., 522 U.S. 479 (1998), is a 1998 legal case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that banks had prudential standing to challenge regulations that permitted credit unions to enroll unaffiliated members.

Communications Workers of America v. Beck, 487 U.S. 735 (1988), is a decision by the United States Supreme Court which held that, in a union security agreement, unions are authorized by statute to collect from non-members only those fees and dues necessary to perform its duties as a collective bargaining representative. The rights identified by the Court in Communications Workers of America v. Beck have since come to be known as "Beck rights," and defining what Beck rights are and how a union must fulfill its duties regarding them is an active area of modern United States labor law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Respect for Marriage Act</span> 2022 U.S. federal law

The Respect for Marriage Act is a landmark United States federal law passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden. It repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), requires the U.S. federal government and all U.S. states and territories to recognize the validity of same-sex and interracial civil marriages in the United States, and protects religious liberty. Its first version in 2009 was supported by former Republican U.S. Representative Bob Barr, the original sponsor of DOMA, and former President Bill Clinton, who signed DOMA in 1996. Iterations of the proposal were put forth in the 111th, 112th, 113th, 114th, and 117th Congresses.

The Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act, or DISCLOSE Act, is a federal campaign finance reform bill that has been introduced in the United States Congress since 2010. The bill would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for greater and faster public disclosure of campaign spending and to combat the use of so-called "dark money" in U.S. elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Actors Federal Credit Union</span>

Actors Federal Credit Union (ActorsFCU) is an American federally chartered credit union—a cooperatively run, not-for-profit financial institution, owned and controlled by its members. Based in New York City, New York, ActorsFCU is regulated and insured by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), an agency of the U.S. Federal Government comparable to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. It is the 49th largest credit union in the state of New York and the 993rd largest credit union in the nation. It has an overall health score at DepositAccounts.com of a B, with a B+ Texas ratio. Currently led by Daniel Czerniawski, ActorsFCU serves over 22,000 members of more than 190 organizations nationwide with assets of more than $180,000,000. ActorsFCU has 44 full-time employees and 4 part-time employees with a main office and 4 branch offices.

Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States regarding the constitutionality of two provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965: Section 5, which requires certain states and local governments to obtain federal preclearance before implementing any changes to their voting laws or practices; and Section 4(b), which contains the coverage formula that determines which jurisdictions are subject to preclearance based on their histories of discrimination in voting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union</span> Credit union in Live Oak, Texas

Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union (RBFCU) is a credit union headquartered in Live Oak, Texas, chartered and regulated under the authority of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). RBFCU serves more than 850,000 members from a network of full-service branch locations in Texas, and has more than $14.77 billion in assets as of May 2022. It is one of the largest credit unions in the United States; and is the largest credit union in Texas, and the 11th largest credit union in the United States, based on total assets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Credit Union Share Insurance Fund Parity Act</span>

The Credit Union Share Insurance Fund Parity Act is a bill that would expand federal deposit insurance to include Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts (IOLTAs) and similar escrow accounts housed within credit unions.

References

  1. ↑ Bahnmueller, Lori Z. (18 October 1999). "Credit Union Membership Access Act Gives 63 Million Working Americans Access to Nonprofit Financial Cooperatives". Argus-Press . Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  2. ↑ "Credit unions battle for life in Asheboro - Charlotte Business Journal". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  3. ↑ "Letter to All Federal Credit Unions" (PDF). National Credit Union Administration. October 28, 1996. p. 3, paragraph 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2016.
  4. ↑ "News Now". lobby.la.psu.edu. Archived from the original on 2006-09-09. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  5. ↑ Singletary, Michelle (1997-01-13). "Credit Conundrums". The Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  6. ↑ Steven, LaTourette (1998-08-07). "H.R.1151 - 105th Congress (1997-1998): Credit Union Membership Access Act". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  7. ↑ "Supreme Court Rules Against Credit Unions; Decision Heightens Need for Congress to Pass H.R. 1151 to Protect Consumers, Right to Choose". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  8. ↑ "President's Blog Details". www.pcua.org. Retrieved 2015-11-01.[ permanent dead link ]
  9. ↑ "A Lasting Legacy: H.R 1151 Remembered on 10th Anniversary". March 5, 2008. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.