Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton appointed Lt. Gov. Tina Smith Wednesday to replace Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) after he announced his resignation last week.

“Lt. Gov. Smith is a friend to credit unions, and is well aware of the many ways credit unions serve their members and their communities. Her sense on credit union issues will be a good thing now that’s she’s representing Minnesota in the U.S. Senate,” said Mark Cummins, president/CEO of the Minnesota Credit Union Network. “We look forward to working with her on behalf of Minnesota’s 1.7 million credit union members.”

“We’re pleased to see Lt. Gov. Smith has been supportive to credit union priorities in the past, and having another educated credit union perspective in the Senate is a positive development,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “The Senate has a lot on its plate right now, most notably the bipartisan regulatory relief bill we’re pushing to see Senate floor consideration, and CUNA is already engaged to ensure she is aware of the importance of this bill and other regulatory relief measures."