WASHINGTON (2/12/16 UPDATED 4:15 p.m. ET)--Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)became the first senator to publicly come out in support of the National Credit Union Administration’s (NCUA) field-of-membership proposal in a letter sent today. Boxer, who joined seven representatives to date in writing to the NCUA to support the proposal, coordinated with the California Credit Union League to get the letter submitted.

“Congress has instructed NCUA to ensure federally chartered credit unions remain a viable option to consumers, and I believe your proposal is consistent with this statutory mission,” she wrote.

Boxer praised the proposal for raising the population caps on federal credit union service areas, saying the current caps “constrain growth” and could limit consumer access as populations grow.

“Raising these caps and allowing credit unions to serve adjacent jurisdictions will enable credit unions to reach underserved, often rural, areas with few person financial options available to consumers,” she said. “Second, the proposal would allow federal credit unions chartered for a particular class of workers to also serve ‘dependent’ workers. It simply makes no sense, for example, that school support staff cannot join a teachers federal credit union.”

Boxer joins Reps. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), Ami Bera (D-Calif.), Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) and Joe Heck (R-Nev.), in supporting the proposal.

Each of those legislators worked with either the California or Nevada Credit Union League to get the letter submitted to the NCUA.

According to NCUA Chair Debbie Matz, the agency has received more than 11,000 comment letters on the proposal.