WASHINGTON—The credit union trade associations are offering support for the nomination announced earlier this week of former Oregon State Sen. Rick Metsger (D) to fill the vacant seat on the NCUA board. That seat has been open since 2012 when former board member Gigi Hyland departed NCUA.
Metsger has a background in credit unions, having served on the board of Portland Teachers Credit Union from 1993-2001. His political career ran from 1999-2011 when he was an Oregon state senator, including president pro-tempore his last two years in office. He was also a member of the Oregon Debt Policy Advisory Commission member from 2001 to 2011, and has a background in financial literacy, having served on the board of the nonprofit Financial Beginnings.
Troy Stang, president of Metsger's home state credit union association issued a statement saying, "Sen. Metsger has a strong background of public service and certainly understands the complexity of the financial services landscape, including the importance of safety and soundness in the credit union system."
NAFCU President Fred Becker issued a statement saying, "We congratulate former Oregon state Sen. Rick Metsger on his nomination to the NCUA Board Upon confirmation, we look forward to working with him and the NCUA Board and staff on behalf of our members to promote a positive regulatory environment for credit unions."
The pace at which the nomination will work its way through Congress is anything but certain. Partisanship in Congress has ground to a halt numerous nominations. The term of NCUA board member Michael Fryzel expires in August and there has been some speculation that the Metsger nomination could be paired with a Republican nominee in order to speed the process. To date no nominee for the Fryzel seat has been mentioned.
If Metsger is approved by the Senate for the NCUA board seat it would fulfill a recent demand by some in credit unions, including CUNA and Callahan's Chip Filson, that NCUA board members have a working knowledge of credit unions.
CUNA has also floated a plan that urges Congress to expand the NCUA board to five members from three.
Meanwhile, the current two-member NCUA board (Fryzel and Chairman Debbie Matz) will be meeting in open session this morning. Rules related to derivatives will be a primary agenda item.
