RALEIGH, N.C.—It’s expected that CUNA’s proposed bylaws revisions may come up for a vote soon, possibly at its Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington this month.
But Jim Blaine, president of State Employees’ CU, says CUs should not just assume they will be given the option of joining a state league OR CUNA.
In December, the CUNA board voted in favor of presenting to its affiliated member CUs the most significant revision of its bylaws since the association was formed in 1934. Under the proposed bylaws changes, credit unions will likely be given a choice of belonging to their state league only, belonging only to CUNA, or having membership in the traditional league/CUNA model.
“Until CUNA members officially approve the legal/bylaw amendments required to change CUNA’s structure, nothing actually has happened,” said Blaine. “CUNA’s members may well vote down the CUNA board’s recommendations. There are no published draft bylaw amendments nor timeline for action by the CUNA board. What is clear is that nothing is clear.”
Not having membership choice is a key reason SECU pulled out of CUNA and the state league in 2014. That move by the $31-billion CU resurrected a great deal of discussion among credit unions about CUNA’s dual membership structure.
Blaine reminded that SECU had three concerns about the CUNA/league structure that led to its disaffiliation:
“It was not financially sustainable given the persistent decline in the number of credit unions. The requirement to join a single league no longer reflects the multi-state membership reality of many credit unions. And a direct membership model for CUNA, similar to NAFCU, is more democratic and representative,” he said.