SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The state commission in charge of student loans on Friday approved a $100 million deal by eight credit union to keep offering loans to students in Illinois.

ORLANDO, Fla. – At McCoy FCU last week a member of long standing with a mortgage and two car loans walked into the credit union and handed over one of the keys, because she was no longer able to make the payments on both her and her husband’s car.

WASHINGTON – Credit union leaders were working through the weekend to ensure the massive government bailout of the mortgage industry includes the nation’s credit unions, especially corporate credit unions, which are treading amidst huge portfolios of underwater mortgage backed securities.

WALL STREET - Last week's earthquake in the financial markets was being felt throughout the credit union industry, as gyrating rates and a variety of holdings were delivering a major shock to balance sheets all over the country.

WASHINGTON - New NCUA Chairman Michael Fryzel promised last week to monitor credit unions closely during the ongoing financial crisis, that is pushing many institutions, including credit unions, to the brink.

By Ed Roberts, Washington Bureau Chief

By Ed Roberts, Washington Bureau Chief

ALVIN, Texas - In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, which battered the Texas coast and ripped inland all the way to the upper Midwest, credit unions are demonstrating their resiliency and dedication to serving members.

LENEXA, Kan. - The travails of the financial markets the last two weeks have sent a handful of corporate credit unions on an up-and-down ride, lifting prospects, then depressing them, for billions of dollars in underwater mortgage securities they hold.

CUs Urge Against Merging Financial Regulators

WASHINGTON - Members of Congress from both parties agreed on one main lesson they learned from the ongoing financial crisis-the need for regulatory reform as a main priority for the next Congress.

GDANSK, Poland - Representatives of the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) are meeting with legislators here after legislation hostile to financial cooperatives was proposed to the Polish Parliament. Participants in a WOCCU engagement program, already in the country to study its cooperatives, are now working to meet with Parliament on behalf of what has been one of the world's fastest-growing, most successful CU systems. The proposed amendments seek to change Poland's credit union law, passed in 1995, to end all lifetime membership provisions, requiring members to leave their credit unions if they leave employers who belong to those credit unions' FOM, and to limit CU access to certain funding sources and reduce credit union oversight authority for NACSCU. Some 1.7 million Poles belong to credit unions.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/

ALBANY, N.Y. - The Credit Union Association of New York has released its 2008 voters' guide-a move that is as much about educating credit union advocates about which lawmakers are "CU-friendly" as it is about letting those lawmakers know credit unions are keeping an eye on them.

MECHANICSBURG, Penn. - The bankers may have convinced a federal judge to scrap the broad community charter for Members 1st FCU, but that won't slow down the rapid growth of the $1.4-billion credit union.

SACRAMENTO - A credit union-backed data security bill is sitting on California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk awaiting his signature-but don't expect similar legislation to make its way to a U.S. president's pen any time soon.

Mission FCU Taps Schwarz As CEO

SACRAMENTO - The California CU League backed legislation that passed both state legislative houses in 2007 before falling to a Schwarzenegger veto last fall. League representatives were told the veto was prompted by a possible effect on business costs. The defeat led to negotiations with numerous parties, including the merchant groups that opposed the 2007 bill, before an updated, 2008 version again swept through both the California House and Senate. Both years' bills were authored by California Assemblymember Dave Jones.

DALLAS - The near-unanimous opinion of those interviewed: action on the state level is helpful in building momentum towards national data security legislation, but much more work must be done before Congress shakes off inertia. But as consumers seemingly cannot open a newspaper or watch TV news without viewing a report on a data breach once a week is putting pressure on Congress to act, California CUL's Melissa Ameluxen said. Another assist: when lawmakers themselves are affected by a breach, as was the case with at least two California legislators, she said. Texas CUL's Buddy Gill agreed: "If there is another huge breach, or several more breaches that will put a match to the fuel and lawmakers will say 'enough is enough' and do something about it."

WASHINGTON - Dillon Shea, director of political affairs for NAFCU, said while he is not familiar with the efforts of state lawmakers, "Certainly the more things are passed at state levels creates incentives to get things passed at the federal level so financial institutions don't have to deal with a patchwork of state laws."

BEAVERTON, Ore. - Pamela Leavitt, SVP-governmental affairs and public relations for the CU Association of Oregon, noted the state passed comprehensive identity theft legislation in 2007.