SALEM, Ore. - Almost one year after Gov. John Kitzhaber signed into law H.B. 3151, a new state credit union field-of-membership bill (CU Times, July 28, 1999), the state Department of Consumer and Business Services last week released a report on the final rule to implement the new law. In January, the Oregon Bankers Association testified that a provision of the law - that credit union membership may also include members of the immediate family or persons in the group(s) included in its field-of-membership - was beyond the legislative intent of H.B. 3151. The state disagreed with the OBA's argument, and based their decision on the fact that allowing family members to join is in parity with federal credit union regulations. H.B. 3151 was introduced by state Rep. Ken Strobeck (R-Beaverton) . Co-sponsors included Sen. Ted Ferrioli (R-John Day) and Rick Metsger (D-Welches); Reps. Ryan Deckert (D-Beaverton), Bill Morrisette (D-Springfield), Tim Knopp (R-Bend) and Ron Sunseri (R-Gresham). Other provisions of the law include: * state-chartered credit unions are allowed to include one or more groups, each having a common bond of occupation, as long as the group doesn't contain more than 3,000 members; * state-chartered credit unions have the ability to have a community charter that includes persons who live or work within a well-defined local community, neighborhood or rural district; * encourages the state regulator to decide if new groups could form their own credit union. The Oregon Credit Union League drafted similar legislation in the 1995 legislative session. That bill, S.B. 391, passed the state Senate but failed to make it through the House before the legislature adjourned. -
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