Governor Kim Reynolds Signs House File 131

June 11, 2024

DES MOINES— Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed House File 131 into law in May after it passed through the Iowa Senate and House with strong, bipartisan support. The bill makes various changes to the Iowa Credit Union Act (Chapter 533) and goes into effect July 1. Click here for photos of the bill signing.

Originally passed in 1925, the Iowa Credit Union Act ensured Iowans had access to affordable services through cooperatively owned financial institutions. Changes to Chapter 533 were needed to update certain aspects of credit union board governance along with other operational processes.

With the Governor’s signature, HF 131 will now provide the following changes:

Board compensation - Existing law prohibits compensation of directors. This legislation expressly allows for a credit union to compensate its directors up to a cap of $8,000 or $16,000 per director per year, based on the credit union’s asset size.

Frequency of board meetings - Credit union boards are currently required to meet monthly.  The bill now allows a credit union to meet between six to twelve times a year unless the credit union has a composite CAMELS rating of three, four or five, or if it has an individual rating of four or five.

Member expulsion - The bill adds new language to make clear that a member may be expelled from the credit union by the board of directors if he/she has a) been physically or verbally abusive to another member or credit union staff, or b) committed fraud, attempted fraud or other illegal conduct in relation to the credit union.

“Iowa credit unions appreciate the legislature and Governor’s bipartisan support to make important updates to the Iowa Credit Union Act with House File 131,” said Murray Williams, President/CEO of the Iowa Credit Union League (ICUL). “Credit unions’ ability to best serve their members and stay competitive in a quickly changing marketplace requires that our state code remain contemporary, and this legislation was a positive step to that end.”

As cooperatively owned financial institutions, credit unions focus on improving the financial lives of their 1.4 million Iowa member-owners.

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The Iowa Credit Union League is the trade association that represents the interests of Iowa credit unions and their 1.4 million Iowa members. Credit unions are cooperative financial institutions owned and operated by their members. Iowans use their credit union membership to receive higher interest rates on savings and lower interest rates on loans. For more information on ICUL, visit www.IowaCreditUnions.com.