President Obama returned from his vacation to a heavy workload, and on Tuesday signed 35 bills into law (pictured below). One of which is the National Credit Union Stabilization Act.

The act allows the credit union regulator to assess fees on specific member institutions to refill its insurance fund. The bill, which was sponsored by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D.-Conn) before he retired, enables the National Credit Union Administration to make expenditures from its stabilization fund without borrowing from the Treasury. The NCUA has estimated the losses to its fund caused by the demise of mortgage-backed securities exceeded the fund’s entire retained earnings. The association sought passage of the legislation to pay expenses associated with the ongoing problems in the corporate credit union system. The NCUA put the two largest corporate credit unions in the nation – US Central Federal Credit Union and Western Corporate Federal Credit Union – in conservatorship in March 2009. The regulator wanted changes to Federal Credit Union Act that so it could “make assessments in advance of anticipated expenditures, avoiding the need to borrow from Treasury and incur added interest expense.” Dodd, who is the son of a senator, chose to retire rather than seek re-election in November. He was elected to the Senate in 1980 following three terms in the House. Dodd was instrumental in shaping various acts of federal legislation as the economic crisis of the past few years unfolded, including co-writing the sweeping financial reform legislation that bears his name. Write to Jason Philyaw.