The New York Credit Union Association board asked CUNA Tuesdayto reconsider its position on the dual membership requirement aftera survey found nearly 80% of New York credit unions favormembership choice.

The New York board also said it will meet next month to reviewactions taken by the CUNA board after its December meeting and makea final determination on membership requirements.

Meanwhile, the board of directors of the Mountain West CreditUnion Association announced Wednesday it adopted a measure tosupport CUNA's decision to preserve dual membership.

“Advocacy is at the heart of what we do for our member creditunions,” Scott Earl, president/CEO of the MWCUA, said. “Our effortsare championed by CUNA and together, we are able to present aunited front that best represents the interests of our members andthe credit union movement.”

On Sept. 18, the CUNA board votedto maintain the longstanding dual membership requirementdespite a final recommendation by the CUNA System Structureand Governance Task Force to offer credit unions membershipchoice in CUNA and/or a league.

CUNA's own national survey found that nearly 50% of creditunions supported membership choice and 30% backed jointmembership.

According to a New York association survey of its credit unionmembers, nearly 80% favored the choice to join the associationwithout being required to also join CUNA.

Of the 378 credit unions in the Empire State, 169 responded tothe survey conducted last month. The survey's response rate wasnearly 45%. In contrast, more than 6,000 credit unions were invitedto participate in CUNA's national survey, but only 808 took thesurvey for a response rate of nearly 13%.

“The survey results confirmed the NYCUA board's position thatmembership in NYCUA should not require membership in CUNA or anyother organization,” the New York association said in a preparedstatement.

The New York association board said it passed a resolutionTuesday that calls on CUNA's board “to modernize its membershipbylaws in a way that leads toward more consensus within the creditunion movement by empowering credit unions with options onmembership requirements.”

However, it is unlikely that the CUNA board will change itscontroversial decision – at least for now.

In reaction to the New York association's resolution, CUNAreleased the same statement after the board of directors of theLeague of Southeastern Credit Unions announced its decision toallow membership optionality in October.

“CUNA and the leagues are local and national credit unionadvocates for removing barriers, creating awareness and fosteringservice excellence for credit unions,” Senior Media RelationsManager Vicki Christner said. “A unified CUNA/league system is thebest advocate for credit unions to mobilize our movement to achievethese goals. It continually demonstrates an unmatched recordof advocacy on behalf of credit unions.”

The Mountain West association indicated it did not survey its126 member credit unions in Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming. However,the association has been discussing the issue and “taking thetemperature on it” with member credit unions in various scheduledmeetings, according to Patti Hazlett, director of corporatecommunications for the MWCUA.

On Oct. 16, the board of the Leagueof Southeastern Credit Unions voted unanimously against CUNA'sdual membership, allowing credit union members in Florida andAlabama the choice to join the league without requiring them tojoin CUNA in 2016.

Southeastern league President/CEO Patrick LaPine said 84% ofcredit unions in both states that responded to the survey voted infavor of choice and 16% of credit union voted to retain dualmembership requirements.

The survey found member credit unions supported the moveconsistently regardless of asset size: Eighty-three percent ofcredit unions with assets of less than $100 million, 84% of creditunions with assets of $100 million to $500 million, and 86% ofcredit unions with more than $500 million in assets voted in favorof membership choice.

In September, the MichiganCredit Union League became the first trade association in thenation to allow its credit unions to join the league withoutjoining CUNA.

With this membership requirement change, the Michigan leagueboard strongly encouraged credit unions to continue affiliationwith both CUNA and the Michigan league.