U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter introduced a bill last week to make it easier for a credit union to expel a member for fraud, loss or other illegal and disruptive behavior. 

“This bipartisan legislation will improve the federal credit union charter and make credit unions safer for both employees and members,” said Perlmutter, who joined U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., in announcing the bill. “If a member is engaged in fraudulent, abusive or dangerous activity, it puts employees and other members at risk. This will ensure credit unions have a more streamlined process for expelling bad actors and protecting their membership and staff.”

According to the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions, a credit union can expel a member through a special meeting with a two-thirds vote of those members present. The expulsion can also happen if the member is a non-participant in the credit union’s affairs.

“Calling a special meeting for the purposes of expulsion costs money and staff time, and can be a significant operational lift,” wrote the NAFCU. “This creates some very difficult situations for credit unions where the barrier to removing dangerous or abusive members is quite high.”

Perlmutter’s bill allows for a majority vote of a quorum of directors. U.S. Sens. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., and Tina Smith, D-Minn., introduced a companion bill in the Senate, citing instances of members harassing tellers, smashing machines or robbing.