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Committee reviews technical fixes to credit-union laws, including board delegation and survivor payout dates
Summary
A legislative clean-up bill that adjusts payout timeframes for deceased members’ accounts, allows boards to delegate member-expulsion appeals, and clarifies supervisory-committee membership drew support from credit unions and banks at a House Commerce and Consumer Protection hearing.
Chair Rep. Sosa opened a public hearing Thursday on House Bill 3,370, a bill the GoWest Credit Union Association described as a biennial package of technical updates for Oregon credit unions.
The measure would align several date references in the Oregon Credit Union Act and the Oregon Bank Act governing disposition of a deceased depositor’s account; permit a credit union’s board of directors to delegate consideration of member-expulsion appeals to senior management; and clarify that the board chair may not serve on a credit union’s supervisory committee while allowing other board members to serve on that committee if the bylaws permit.
Pam Levitt, representing the GoWest Credit Union Association and Oregon’s credit unions, told the committee the changes are routine updates the association pursues every two years. “These three items in this bill … seem very minor and are small changes, but they are recommended amended changes from our credit union,” Levitt said.
Hal Scoggins, outside counsel for GoWest, walked the committee through the three main changes. On payout timeframes, he said current cross-references create a mismatch: a spouse can assert a claim within the first 45 days and Oregon Health Authority or Department of Human Services can assert claims in the 46–75 day window, but some statutory language refers inconsistently to the “70th-something” day. The bill standardizes those date references so banks and credit unions have a single, consistent deadline to follow.
On member-expulsion appeals, Scoggins said the bill gives credit unions the option — not a requirement — to let senior management hear appeals instead of requiring the appeals to go to the board. “If you've got a large credit union with a couple hundred thousand members … it’s not necessarily the best use of their time to be looking at individual member expulsions during their board meetings,” he said, adding members still may write the board if dissatisfied.
The third change clarifies the supervisory committee rules. Scoggins said the proposal would allow board members to serve on the supervisory committee unless a credit union’s bylaws say otherwise, while explicitly prohibiting the board chair from serving on the committee.
Representatives of the Oregon Bankers Association and Rivermark Community Credit Union expressed support. Kevin Christiansen of the Oregon Bankers Association said his organization supported the changes that affect the Oregon Bank Act and did not oppose the credit-union–specific fixes. Jason Wirtz, president and CEO of Rivermark Community Credit Union, said Rivermark and GoWest generally participate in the same annual review process and supported the bill’s cleanup language.
No formal action was taken during the hearing. The committee temporarily closed the public hearing on HB 3,370 and later reopened and closed it after additional testimony.
Context: proponents framed the bill as housekeeping to remove inconsistencies and streamline governance procedures; opponents were not recorded during the hearing.
