WASHINGTON Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson of South Dakota, a strong credit union supporter, will retire when his current term expires in 2014.
Johnson, 66, joined the Senate in 1997 but has been partially impaired physically and has had difficulty speaking since suffering a stroke in 2006, affecting both committee hearings and legislative work. Despite his impairment, Johnson was narrowly reelected to a six-year-term in 2008.
Despite his impairment, Johnson was elected by his colleagues to succeed retiring Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut as chairman of the banking committee because of his longevity on the panel.
Credit unions are counting on Johnson until he retirement to help them finally push through bills to raise the member business loan limit, allow credit unions to raise supplementary capital, and set up new oversight over the federal banking and credit union examinations process.
