A Voice That Must Be Heard

“You say it again, and you say it again, and you say it again, and you say it again, and you say it again, and then again and again and again and again, and about the time that you’re absolutely sick of saying it is about the time that your target audience has heard it for the first time.”

Frank Luntz, political strategist

Community bankers aren’t the type to hold back an opinion, whether it’s offering advice to a small-business customer or weighing in on how to promote local economic activity. But in this age of short news cycles and even shorter attention spans, community bankers have to be willing to tell their story time and time again to connect with policymakers and the broader public.

The future of the industry depends on our ability to speak out passionately and directly. And with ICBA Community Banking Month and the countdown to the ICBA Washington Policy Summit underway, now is the time for community bankers to make their voice heard loud and clear. That’s why ICBA is offering a variety of resources to help community bankers spread the industry’s message.

The ICBA Community Banking Month website offers resources that community bankers can use to espouse the benefits of community banking, including a custom news release and op-ed, sample social media updates, and an infographic. It also offers a custom letter to Congress that community bank customers can use to advocate on behalf of the industry to their lawmakers.

Meanwhile, community bankers can continue the industry’s push for regulatory relief and other important policy goals at this month’s ICBA Washington Policy Summit. Scheduled for April 24-27 in the nation’s capital, the summit allows community bankers to meet directly with their members of Congress and regulators to advance smarter banking policies.

As ICBA Chairman Rebeca Romero Rainey said at last month’s ICBA Community Banking LIVE convention, each community bank has a unique story of how they serve their local communities and make an individualized impact on their customers. Our industry’s success depends on our ability to share that story—to the people in our communities, to the news media, to the policymakers who establish the laws we live by, and to the next generation of community bankers.

So let’s tap into that and tell the community banking story—again and again. While you might get tired of repeating the benefits of banking locally and the need for policymakers to allow this system to thrive, we owe it to our communities, our economy and the future of our industry to make sure our voices are truly heard.

Community Bankers to Washington: Let’s Work Together To Get the Job Done

Last week’s ICBA Washington Policy Summit showed once again that community bankers are not only willing to go the extra mile—they’re even grateful for the privilege. With nearly 1,000 community bankers and industry advocates in the nation’s capital to advocate positive reform in more than 300 meetings with policymakers, there was a feeling of enthusiasm and optimism unique among community bankers.

They rolled up their sleeves to solve problems, support local communities and expand access to credit like it’s their job. (That’s probably because it is.) And just like the hard work that community bankers put into their local communities, their efforts in Washington are already paying off.

As I wrote in Morning Consult before the summit, the industry focused its meetings with Congress and federal regulators on right-sizing regulation, instituting uniform data-security standards, and ending taxpayer subsidies for credit unions and the Farm Credit System.

First, community bankers urged congressional support for the CLEAR Relief Act (H.R. 1233/S. 812) and the Community Bank Access to Capital Act (H.R. 1523) to ease excessive regulation and promote access to capital on Main Street. Second, attendees called on policymakers to impose Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act-like standards on other players in the payments system, including retailers, to ensure meaningful consumer protection. Finally, the industry took on unwarranted tax subsidies for credit unions and the Farm Credit System to ensure a more consistent and less costly approach to taxing financial institutions.

In other words, community bankers came to Washington to support common sense and consistency—an appropriate regulatory structure, a level playing field. By rolling up their sleeves and digging in, community bankers have shown a readiness to put in the work that is needed to advance positive reform. And as I noted—we’re seeing results. H.R. 1233 has added 22 cosponsors since last week to bring its total to 40 in the House, and S. 812 has tacked on eight for 29 total Senate cosponsors.

But we need to continue applying pressure on Congress to ensure passage of these critical reforms. The Washington Policy Summit might be over, but community bankers everywhere can stay in touch with their policymakers via ICBA’s Be Heard grassroots website. Follow up with your congressional delegation and hold their feet to the fire. By advocating positive reforms in letters to Congress, we can all go the extra mile to ensure community banks can continue to support local customers and communities one loan at a time.

April is a Flurry of Community Banking Activity

Wow. I don’t think there’s much more you can say with the flurry of activity going on at ICBA and throughout the community banking industry right now. Coinciding with last week’s kickoff of Community Banking Month and the final countdown to the ICBA Washington Policy Summit, ICBA also launched Community Banker University.

So at the same time that we’re celebrating community banking in April and gearing up for our annual grassroots advocacy event in Washington, we’ve also transformed and modernized our educational model. No wonder everyone around here has been so busy.

Of course, the beneficiaries are community bankers and the customers they serve. ICBA offers a Community Banking Month toolkit to help members spread the word about community banks, and our Washington Policy Summit allows community bankers to take the industry’s advocacy message directly to policymakers on Capitol Hill. Now with Community Banker University and our new partnership with the Barret School of Banking, community bankers can access a fresh, modern approach to continuing education and professional development.

These initiatives go straight to the heart of the ICBA mission, which is creating and promoting an environment where community banks flourish. That means advocacy and public policy, it means marketing and communication, and it means education and development.

Just like community banks and other small businesses, ICBA is never content with the status quo. We’re going to keep innovating, keep pushing, to ensure we’re doing everything we possibly can to support our beloved industry. So I encourage every community banker out there to check out everything ICBA has to offer this April. It’s enough to make you say “wow.”

Regulatory Relief Push in Full Swing with Committee Markup

The House Financial Services Committee last week advanced five ICBA-advocated bills to provide regulatory relief to community banks. The bills, which are inspired by ICBA’s Plan for Prosperity platform, would rein in community bank overregulation on several fronts.

The package of bills—the first in what we expect to be a series of volleys against regulatory burden—would exempt community bank portfolio loans from CFPB escrow requirements, delay and study Basel III rules on mortgage-servicing assets and eliminate redundant privacy notice requirements. Other ICBA-backed measures would allow individuals to challenge the CFPB’s rural designations and would write into statute the CFPB’s community bank and small business advisory boards.

Clearly, Congress is listening to community bankers, who have repeatedly warned about the damaging impact of excessive regulation. Centennial Bank Chairman David Williams recently testified to the committee that community bank regulations have reached the level of overkill because they are harming the consumers they’re supposed to protect.

This is something every community banker knows firsthand. The regulatory environment that is supposed to protect consumers is actually hurting them by cutting off their access to credit. Thanks to community bankers, Congress is getting the message.

But this committee markup is just one small step in a very long legislative process. That is why community bankers must remain vigilant in pursuit of regulatory relief. And let me tell you, there’s no better way to do it than coming to Washington and beating the bushes on Capitol Hill. That’s why I’m calling on community bankers from coast to coast to register for next month’s ICBA Washington Policy Summit. This grassroots advocacy summit, which kicks off in less than 30 days, allows community bankers to meet firsthand with members of Congress and federal banking regulators to push for relief.

As community bankers know, we have a long road to reining in excessive regulation to help our local communities thrive. But even the longest journeys begin with a single step. Let’s keep this journey going and see it all the way to the end, because our customers and communities are counting on us.