State-chartered credit unions in Illinois will receive nearly $1.2 million in credit from the state based on regulatory fees collected last year exceeding expenses.

The Illinois Credit Union League said in a press release Monday that as a result of the fee credit, credit unions enjoyed more than an 80% fee reduction applied to their March 2025 quarterly billing.

The amount of each regulatory fee credit is based on the fee paid by individual credit unions as a proportion of the aggregate total of fees collected by the state.

“The ongoing regulatory fee credits continue to demonstrate the great importance of advocacy in a real, measurable way. The original advocacy win in 2009 has resulted in a highly substantive financial benefit to our Illinois credit unions, which as cooperatives, they directly pass on to their member owners,” said ICUL President and CEO Libby Calderone.

The credit is based upon legislation enacted to implement the court-approved settlement of the regulatory fee case filed by the League against the state in 2004.

At the time, Governor Rod Blagojevich had implemented a credit union regulatory fee escalation, resulting in excess funds of over $2 million. Those funds were then swept into the General Revenue Fund to cover other costs to balance the budget.

The League filed a lawsuit against the state to stop the improper fee escalation scheme.

Under the terms of the settlement, credit unions received a cash payment of approximately $6.2 million in June 2009. The settlement also accomplished two other goals. It codified a rate reduction in regulatory fees on a going forward basis beginning Jan. 1, 2009.

It also reduced the Credit Union Fund margin that triggers a credit back to credit unions. Including the reduction in regulatory fees of more than $10 million, the League-initiated prosecution and settlement has returned nearly $28 million in total to Illinois state-chartered credit unions since 2009.

The Illinois Credit Union League is the primary trade association for more than 200 state and federal credit unions in Illinois.

“The ICUL advocacy team always fights hard to pass favorable bills and eliminate negative bills, but no other trade association puts money back into the pockets of their members. This great victory would not have happened without the joined forces and support of credit unions through league affiliation.”

 – Libby Calderone
President and CEO
ICUL