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The 80th Session is 30 days old. The governor has delivered his “State of the State” address, Rep. Craddick has been elected Speaker of the House, and committees have been organized. Not counting constitutional amendments and congratulatory resolutions, over 1600 bills have been introduced—many of them duplicative. IBAT has 67 bills on its watch list as of Tuesday. Here is the legislative news for this point in the process.
One of banking’s most important issues, ILC branching, is the subject of HB 341 by Leibowitz and HB 944 by Solomons. These bills would amend the Finance Code in a nondiscriminatory way to prohibit any FDIC insured institution from placing a branch on the premises of a commercial affiliate. For a quick, one-page look at the issue, click here for more information about the dangers of combining banking and commerce that could occur if such branching is not addressed.
Bills addressing our other issues have all been drafted and are in the hopper for finalization by the Legislative Council.
The initial, critical work on all legislation occurs at the committee level. Most of the items of interest to IBAT and its members will be referred in the House to either the Financial Institutions Committee, chaired by Burt Solomons with vice chair Dan Flynn, or to the Business & Industry Committee, chaired by Helen Giddings with vice chair Gary Elkins. In the Senate, most bills of interest are referred to the Business & Commerce Committee, chaired by Troy Fraser with Chris Harris, vice chair. To view a list of all committee assignments, just go to the Texas Legislature’s web page. That valuable resource also provides access to bills, including the text and their history. Click here to access that page. Please note that the IBAT Advocacy section will provide you with information about the IBAT Legislative Agenda, resources, resolutions adopted by the IBAT membership, testimony and letters.
As noted above, there are over 60 on the list so far. This newsletter will bring you up to speed on the issues as (or if) the bills get to committee. Many are re-treads from prior session and are not expected to go any further this year than in years past! As always, there is a large interest in privacy and protection of consumer information. Thus, there are bills that would limit the use of social security numbers, require banks to get consumers’ permission to use information with joint marketers, and enhancements to ID theft laws.
PREDATORY LENDING IS A PERENNIAL CONCERN
As noted in our first newsletter of the session, servicemembers’ rights are addressed in a pre-filed bill, which would go much further than federal law. Reliance on credit scores would be prohibited in another bill. Deferred presentment (read “payday loans”) and Credit Service Organizations are addressed in other legislation. Please be prepared to explain to your legislature the difference between “predatory” lending and prudent lending to subprime borrowers!
Mortgage lenders will need to stay on their toes as we work on matters ranging from cleaning up the ambiguities in the home equity area to clarifying the duties of tax lien financiers.
...to First State Bank of Uvalde, whose centennial was noted in a House resolution this week. Kudos to the cowboy boot, which is on its way to being the “official boot of Texas”!
Karen M. Neeley
IBAT General Counsel
Cox Smith Matthews Incorporated
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