Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., resigned his Senate seat Sunday to become president of the University of Florida. Sasse was first elected in 2014 and supported many credit union priorities during his time in the Senate.

He introduced the Credit Union Governance Modernization Act—along with Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn.—that was signed into law by President Joe Biden in March 2022. The bill updated the member expulsion process and the NCUA recently issued a proposal to align its rules with the law.

“Sen. Sasse has been a credit union champion during his time in the Senate. He has strongly supported CUNA’s efforts to prevent one-size-fits-all regulations for credit unions. His bipartisan leadership led to needed legislative change for credit unions with the Credit Union Governance Modernization Act,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “We thank him for always having his door open to credit unions and wish him and his family well at the University of Florida.”

“Nebraska’s credit unions are grateful to Sen. Sasse for his years of dedicated service in the United States Senate and for his strong support of Nebraska’s credit unions, their employees and members,” said Scott Sullivan, president/CEO of the Nebraska Credit Union League.

Sasse also introduced CUNA and League-supported bills to limit banking agencies’ ability to discourage or restrict banking relationships and spearheaded a bipartisan Senate letter in 2016 calling for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to tailor its rulemakings to take credit unions’ mission and structure into account.