SPRINGFIELD, Ill.–Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has signed into law three bills that had the backing of the state’s credit unions.
According to the Illinois CU League, H.B. 1792, H.B. 759, and S.B. 1694 will “positively impact credit unions in Illinois and provide them more opportunity to succeed.”
- H.B. 1792 – Amendments to the Illinois Credit Union Act. H.B. 1792 amends the Illinois Credit Union Act to establish parity with federal law, as well as to make technical amendments, to enable credit unions to operate more efficiently. The bill contains language that addresses ALM responsibilities and authorizes credit unions to use descriptive and brand references to promote and market their identity, services, and products to their members. It also authorizes credit union member action by electronic voting, if secure and if approved by the board of directors of the credit union and further reduces the par value of a membership share from at least $5 to at least $1.
- H.B. 759 – Amendments to the Illinois Insurance Code. H.B. 759 was passed to resolve ambiguous language in the existing Insurance Code as it relates to the requirement of having an insurance producer’s license in order to solicit and sell group credit insurance policies on member loans, the ICUL said.
- S.B. 1694 – Amendments to the Vehicle Code, Labor and Storage Lien Act and Labor and Storage Lien (Small Amount) Act. S.B. 1694 was filed as a trailer bill to H.B. 2642, which was signed into law and became effective in August 2016. That measure required that a person or business seeking to impose storage fees on a vehicle in its possession must notify the lienholder of record when storage fees begin to accrue. The lienholder notice must state the storage rate, as well as provide the lienholder with an opportunity to inspect its collateral to determine whether it makes economic sense to reclaim it. Unfortunately, several instances of non-compliance were reported following the enactment of the original legislation. As a result, S.B. 1694 was filed to bring clarity to the law, as well as address operational concerns surrounding the notice requirement. The bill makes it explicitly clear that storage fees may not be collected if the lienholder notice is not sent.
"With all the burdensome legislation and regulation that is enacted, we are pleased to obtain the passage of initiatives that give credit unions more power and opportunity to succeed," noted Stephen Olson, the league's EVP and general counsel.