Independent Banker - April 2020 - 44

ICBA 2020/21 executive committee
S
ymbolically speaking,
2020 is a big year-and
the ICBA 2020/21
executive committee
has plans to match. In
this new decade, these dedicated
community bankers want nothing
less than a level playing fi eld for
their industry, ensuring a robust and
fl ourishing network of community
banks that brings relationship-based,
tech-forward fi nancial services to
customers in every corner of the
United States.
There's no doubt that the newly
elected leadership team has the
community banking chops to help
ICBA and its members achieve their
aims. " Their varied backgrounds
and deep experience in our industry
means this year's leadership team
lives and breathes community
banking, " says Rebeca Romero
Rainey, ICBA president and CEO.
" I've known this group of leaders for
years, and their passion for our great
industry never ceases to amaze me.
We're fortunate to have them on our
side as we work to create and promote
an environment where community
banks fl ourish. "
Independent Banker asked the
2020/21 executive committee
members for their views on eff ective
advocacy, regulation and more. Read
on to see what they said.
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE
MOST CRUCIAL LEGISLATIVE
AND REGULATORY ISSUES
FOR COMMUNITY BANKS IN
THE NEXT 12 MONTHS?
Noah Wilcox: There are always a
number of legislative and regulatory
priorities, but as we look ahead to
2020/21, I think a couple of the top
priorities are our continued eff orts
to level the playing fi eld, particularly
with credit unions, and to create a
safe harbor for community banks
who provide cannabis and cannabisrelated
businesses with fi nancial
products and services in states where
it has been legalized.
Bob Fisher: Legislation tailored
to community banks is critical to
the future of our industry. We need
to continue to promote legislation
to the recession. Finally, we need
to highlight and fi ght the continued
inequity of and power grab by the
credit union industry.
Their varied
backgrounds and
deep experience
in our industry
means this year's
leadership team
lives and breathes
community
banking. "
-Rebeca
Romero Rainey
and regulation that is customized
to the risk and business model of
community banks in order for us
to fl ourish. It is imperative for the
FDIC to take a new approach to de
novo banking applications. Since
the Great Recession, only 30 new
banks have been chartered (or an
average of three new banks annually),
a stark contrast to the average 149
new banks chartered annually prior
44 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q April 2020
Brad Bolton: First, we need
Congress to support community
banks by passing the ECORA Act
(H.R. 1872/S. 1641). This act would
result in additional protections for
community banks making home loans
in populations less than 2,500 and
would grant tax-exempt status to all
agricultural real estate loans. Passing
ECORA would be a huge victory for
community banks and would help
level the playing fi eld against credit
unions and the Farm Credit System.
Advocating the passage of this bill is
one of my personal priorities. Second,
the SAFE Banking Act (S. 1200) is
a crucial legislative priority. The
Senate must be properly educated in
evaluating this bill and understand
it is not pro/against cannabis but
rather gives every bank in America
safe harbor protection for bringing
cannabis-related operations' cash
into the fi nancial system. Third,
continued pressure to exempt
community banks from CECL should
remain a regulatory priority. We
should also stay focused on H.R.
5574, which would repeal Section
1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act on small
business data collection. Finally, we
need continued advocacy for ICBA's
Wake Up campaign to highlight taxsubsidized
credit unions abuses.
Greg Deckard: There is no question
that cybersecurity and data security
issues will remain a top concern
during this next year. In addition, the
impact on community bank capital
from CBLR and CECL, as well as
compliance-related issues such as BSA
and CRA, will be important. However,
Independent Banker - April 2020

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