A “strategic plan town hall” closed to all but industry representatives and their partner organizations will be held Sept. 9 by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) to discuss the agency’s strategic plan and priorities, the agency said Monday.
The secret meeting, set for 2-3 p.m. Eastern, “will be a moderated virtual discussion open to credit unions, Credit Union Service Organizations, Leagues, and industry trades,” the federal agency that charters, regulates, supervises, examines and insures credit unions said in a press release Monday.
The registration page for the “town hall” states that the session will be “off the record” and closed to press. “We will share a list of embargoed discussion topics a day or two before the townhall with registered participants,” it says.
While the meeting announcement doesn’t list topics, it quotes the agency’s board chairman, Kyle Hauptman, on the session’s aim.
“Credit unions and industry should tell us what they would change about NCUA’s last strategic plan, provide ideas on how the NCUA can strengthen credit unions and lessen burdensome rules, and give us feedback on the issues they foresee for the credit union system in coming years,” Hauptman is quoted saying.
NCUA typically uses the public comment process to generate input on the agency’s budget, strategic plan, regulations and more.
Hauptman currently is the only person serving on the NCUA Board while a lawsuit proceeds over the firings by President Donald Trump (R) this April of the agency’s two Democratic board members, Todd Harper (also a former chairman) and Tanya Otsuka. The two are challenging the firings, which were carried out without citing cause.
With Hauptman the only current board member, questions remain about the ability of the board to take action. The NCUA has maintained that a single board member consitutes a quorum when there are no other board members. Yet the agency’s own regulations state that “agreement of at least two of the three Board members is required for any action by the Board.”
Harper and Otsuka were reinstated to their posts by a federal district court ruling just in time for them to attend the agency’s July board meeting, but an appeals court later stayed the ruling pending appeal by the Trump administration.
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