Legislative Advocacy

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IBAT's goal is to provide a diversity of opinions and viewpoints about
national banking news.  Some news articles do not necessarily reflect
the opinion of the Independent Bankers Association of Texas.

Photo by: The Lufkin News
Posted: Friday, February 3, 2012
By STEVE KNIGHT/The Lufkin News

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More than 12,000 community bankers have signed ICBA’s petition to oppose the expansion of small business lending authority of credit unions.  Last week, credit union advocates descended on Capitol Hill, asking Congress to more than double their lending authority via the Small Business Lending and Enhancement Act of 2011 (H.R. 1418/S.509).

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IBAT has issued a call to action for community bankers to urge their member of the U.S. House of Representatives to become co-sponsors of the IBAT inspired Communities First Act (HR 1697). The call comes after news that the bill will be marked up in the House Financial Services Committee in early March.

• The CFA contains dozens of significant regulatory relief provisions for community banks in the wake of Dodd/Frank, including:

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We are pleased to report that the Communities First Act (HR 1697), a broad bill aimed at specific regulatory burden and tax relief for community banks, continues to make progress in Washington.

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With tremendous uncertainty regarding the ultimate district lines, “who’s running where” and even the dates for the primary elections, we are well into our biannual process of determining which candidates to support.  While we are waiting for some finality in the ever-dynamic redistricting saga for a number of open seats in the Texas House of Representatives and Congress, there are many districts and candidate slates that appear to be set regardless of how the process settles out.

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In an opinion piece and blog post circulated last week, IBAT President and CEO Chris Williston weighed in on President Obama’s recent appointment of a director to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.