As much as I enjoyed being with my fellow community bankers in San Antonio last week at ICBA’s national convention, it was nice to get back to Washington to advance the cause of community banking. The return trip was especially pleasant due to the new and refreshing attitude toward community bank regulation that now exists in the nation’s capital.
While Congress develops ICBA-advocated legislative fixes, President Donald Trump has also taken action on our industry’s excessive regulatory burden. The president has already signed executive orders directing federal agencies to establish task forces to identify and eliminate unnecessary red tape, requiring agencies to identify two federal regulations to eliminate for every new rule they issue, and ordering a Treasury Department review of regulations implemented following the 2008 financial crisis.
Together, these efforts show a clear commitment to meaningful relief of the burdens plaguing community banks. This commitment—and a remarkable understanding of what community banks face on a daily basis—was affirmed during President Trump’s recent
meeting with community bankers at the White House. At that meeting, ICBA Chairman Rebeca Romero Rainey, ICBA Chairman-Elect R. Scott Heitkamp and ICBA Vice Chairman Timothy K. Zimmerman had the opportunity to share—face to face with the president—real-world examples of how regulatory burdens get between community bankers and consumers, harming economic growth.
During the meeting, President Trump—along with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, National Economic Council Chairman Gary Cohn and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus—showed a sound understanding of the complex regulations we’re facing. He knew exactly the kinds of restrictions that hamper small-business and mortgage lending, and he pledged to continue working on behalf of tiered and proportional regulation.
“Community banks are the backbone of small business in America,” President Trump said. “We are going to preserve our community banks.”
I could not be more pleased. ICBA strongly supports the efforts of President Trump and Congress—including House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas)—to roll back community bank overregulation. We will continue working closely with policymakers to advance meaningful relief, but we will need maximum participation by community bankers from coast to coast to get it done.
Please make your voices heard on behalf of regulatory relief by signing
ICBA’s Plan for Prosperity petition and encouraging your employees and directors to sign on as well.
As I said at convention, we have a great opportunity to advance regulatory relief—but
we have to see it all the way through to the end. By right-sizing regulation and allowing community banks to focus more on lending and investing in local communities, we can get America’s economy going again.
