ARLINGTON, Va.—NAFCU announced that its membership has voted to approve the board’s unanimous recommendation to amend the association’s Articles of Incorporation.
This vote grants federally-insured, state-chartered members full voting rights and the ability to run for and serve on the NAFCU board of directors. It also reinforces NAFCU’s focus on credit union issues at the federal level, the trade association stated.
“This decision is vital to the growth and success of NAFCU and supports our goal of serving all federally insured credit unions at the federal level so we may become a stronger, more impactful organization,” said Richard L. Harris, NAFCU board chair. “While this is great news for NAFCU and the industry, we remain focused on providing our members the best in federal advocacy, education and compliance assistance.”
NAFCU said that for nearly half a century it has represented credit unions nationwide before key policymakers and regulators in Washington.
“That work keeps NAFCU in front of Congress, the NCUA, CFPB and other regulators and executive offices. Having led the fight for federal share insurance for credit union members, NAFCU has long recognized that its advocacy efforts at the federal level have an impact on all credit unions, both federal and state-chartered,” the trade association said.
“NAFCU’s board, staff and I are pleased with the membership’s decision to grant federally insured, state-chartered members full voting rights,” said NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger. “State-chartered members make up an important and growing part of our membership. We expect state-chartered membership to grow even further with this decision.”
“Allowing state-chartered members to vote and sit on the board further strengthens our voice and ability to best represent our members before Congress, the NCUA, the CFPB and other key policymakers at the federal level,” said Harris. “Our state-chartered members are now eligible to participate in the 2017 election cycle for the NAFCU Board of Directors.”
NAFCU said it commissioned an independent, third-party elections company, Election-America, to administer the vote. Election-America is a nationally recognized company that helps to manage elections for trade associations and credit unions.