FARMERS BRANCH, Texas (6/3/15)--The Texas Credit Union Association (TCUA) netted a number of wins during the state’s biennial legislative session, not only by passing bills that will benefit credit unions, but also by defeating those that may have hampered them.

Credit unions first pressed House representatives to reject two separate proposals that would have moved forward the Sunset review date for the Texas Credit Union Department by several years.

Representatives also heard from their credit union constituents about including a credit union exemption in a law that made changes to account opening procedures. The changes would have carried great costs for credit unions in the form of reprogramming, reprinting forms, and additional disclosure documents for each account (Leaguer).

Credit unions also successfully opposed a bill that would have eased notice requirements for vehicle storage facilities to owners and lienholders, in addition to a bill that would have shifted credit union governance to the Government Code from the Finance Code.

“We could not have succeeded without the tremendous grassroots support of Texas credit unions,” said Cornerstone Credit Union League President/CEO Dick Ensweiler.

Additionally, credit unions worked to support bills to create credit union and bank development districts, which will help establish financial institution branches in underserved areas. TCUA worked alongside author Rep. Eric Johnson (D-Dallas) to ensure credit unions were included in the bills.

Several credit union-supported bills related to data security were proposed, but did not pass. Though the league said that, with their proposal, they still advanced the discussion about data security and the need for merchants to adequately protect consumer data.