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The NCUA Board will consider releasing a proposal to reform field-of-membership requirements and vote on the 2016/2017 budget during its open meeting Nov. 19, according to the agenda released Tuesday.

In July, NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz said the agency would propose additional changes to its FOM rules to permit more expansive community charters, underserved areas and occupational charters. NAFCU welcomes this proposed move; it sent the agency a white paper with recommendations for eased FOM rules in May.

"We thank the NCUA Board members for their leadership in reexamining field-of-membership restrictions," NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger said. "NAFCU continues to support field-of-membership reform and the removal of unnecessary restrictions. We look forward to reviewing the board's proposal."

Regarding NCUA's budget, NAFCU continues to press the agency to find cost savings wherever possible to mitigate costs for credit unions.

The budget addressed next week will determine what NCUA expects to spend next year and in 2017, and how much of the 2016 funding will come from federal credit union operating fees and the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund overhead transfer rate.

The 2015 budget was set at $279.5 million – up 4.2 percent from 2014; it was reduced $1.3 million this July during budget reprogramming. The 2015 operating fee scale was down 0.9 percent from 2014, and all federal credit unions with assets of less than $1 million pay no fees. The OTR this year is 71.8 percent, up from 69.2 percent in 2014.

During the Nov. 19 meeting, NCUA is also expected to announce any expectations regarding a 2015 NCUSIF premium or Temporary Corporate Credit Union Stabilization Fund assessment on credit unions. NCUA has maintained it expects no additional stabilization fund assessments will be needed based on current performance expectations.

The NCUA operating budget will be addressed alongside the TCCUSF 2016/2017 oversight budget. Also slated Nov. 19 is a quarterly report on the stabilization fund and the agency's 2016/2017 annual performance plan.

The board will also hold a closed meeting Nov. 18 on a proposed credit union/bank merger.

The Nov. 19 open meeting will be streamed live; a video of the Oct. 15 open meeting is available online.