Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a new law Monday that givesstate-chartered credit unions the option to pay board members.

“He (the governor) did say he thought it was a good bill…andcongratulated everyone who worked on it,” said David Postman,executive director of communications for the governor's office inOlympia.

The Northwest Credit Union Association helped draft the newlegislation and endorsed it before state House and Senatecommittee hearings in February and March. Introduced to theWashington legislature in January, the legislation was unopposed asit was unanimously passed by the state House on April 12 and thestate Senate on Feb. 26.

In addition to compensating board members, the new lawwill permit credit unions to compensate members of a credit union'ssupervisory committee.

The NWCUA and credit unions across the state supported thecompensation measure because of growing fiduciary and regulatorycomplexities that demand more time and work requirements from boardmembers, the league said.

Supporters also said the compensation option could help attractdiverse board members with specific skills that could contribute tothe credit union movement.

In addition to board compensation, the new law allows Washingtonstate-chartered credit unions to invest with a registeredinvestment company or collective investment fund, give creditunions six years to partially occupy real property purchased forfuture expansion, and require credit unions' board of directors tomeet as few as six times a year with as least one meeting in eachquarter.

Washington has become the 11^th state to break fromthe long-held credit union tradition of board volunteers. Last month, Tennessee became the 10th state to givestate-chartered credit unions the option to pay its board membersafter Gov. Bill Haslam signed a new law in March.

Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, NorthDakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Texas also permitstate-chartered credit unions to compensate their boardmembers.