The industry's campaign to retain a separate and independent regulator received some Texas exposure this week at a signing ceremony conducted by Gov. Rick Perry heralding the passage of a new state sunset law retaining a single CU regulator.

The Austin ceremony, attended by Texas lawmakers, heard comments by Richard Ensweiler, president/CEO of the Texas Credit Union League, claiming a "robust" industry, hit less severely by economic hardship than the rest of the U.S., is showing the way on maintaining a successful structure for state-chartered CUs.

"With both federal regulators and the financial sector under an unprecedented level of scrutiny, this signing comes during what is a historical crossroads for the industry." said Ensweiler. "We see this is as a tremendous vote of confidence in credit unions by Texas policymakers."

He said the message from the governor and lawmakers "is clear: a strong credit union industry thrives with a separate and independent" framework. Also attending the ceremony, was state Rep. Dan Flynn, (R.-Canton) who helped shepherd the sunset law, passed last May, which protects the existing structure for 12 years.