On Tuesday, the Florida Credit Union Association (FCUA), part of the League of Southeastern Credit Unions & Affiliates (LSCU), unveiled its agenda for when the Florida Legislature convenes next week.
The FCUA came out behind a bill from Florida Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah, and state Rep. Bill Hager, R-Boca Raton, the vice chairman of the House Insurance and Banking Committee, offering more public depository choice.
Patrick La Pine, the president and CEO of the LSCU, made his case for that legislation on Tuesday.
Our No. 1 priority is public depository choice, which would allow municipalities and public offices the ability to take their funds elsewhere if their needs are not being met at their current banking institution, La Pine said. As such, we are supporting the passage of Senate Bill 1154 by Sen. Rene Garcia and House Bill 907 by Rep. Bill Hager, which would allow municipalities and public offices to have depository choice. We strongly believe this legislation would spur competition among eligible public depositories, and create an opportunity for greater savings and returns on deposits.
Public offices should have the ability to deposit their funds in local credit unions, said Alvin Cowans, the CEO of McCoy Federal Credit Union based in Orlando and the incoming chair of LSCUs board. This shift would allow locally-raised funds to stay inside the community, and, if successful, this good legislation would establish a framework that would provide optimal economic benefits to taxpayers.
The FCUA also plans to fight for legislation allowing data security, calling for merchants and vendors to be held accountable if they are responsible for compromised data instead of leaving financial institutions such as banks and credit unions with the bill. The FCUA also called for cracking down on patent trolling, defining the activity as people or companies who sue other companies, including credit unions, under questionable claims in order to collect license fees. The group called for Florida to join 15 other states in passing laws against patent trolling.
Along with much of the business community, the FCUA is supporting requiring Florida high school students to take a half credit class on financial literacy and personal fiscal management.
There are 167 credit unions with 4.6 million members across the Sunshine State.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
