Community Bankers Advocate for Main Street in Meetings with Washington Policymakers This Week

Premier Community Banking Event, ICBA Capital Summit Kicks Off Today 

Washington, D.C. (April 27, 2021)—Community bankers from across the nation meet with key policymakers this week as part of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) 2021 Capital Summit. Representing the nation’s nearly 50,000 community banking locations, community bankers will advocate common-sense reforms that promote stronger economic growth, jobs and prosperity in communities nationwide.

In addition to congressional meetings, participants will hear remarks from Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), and ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey.

“As financial first responders to customers and communities during the pandemic, community banks are sharing their powerful stories of service and ingenuity with policymakers and advocating common-sense policies that support our nation’s continued economic recovery,” said ICBA Chairman Robert Fisher, president and CEO of Tioga State Bank in Spencer, N.Y. “We look forward to working with policymakers in Washington to advance a pro-community bank agenda that aids our efforts to help communities flourish nationwide.”

In virtual meetings with members of Congress, community bankers will advocate:

• Closing the dangerous industrial loan company loophole to avert consumer and systemic harm.
• Creating a federal safe harbor for banking legal cannabis-related businesses.
• Promoting rural prosperity by making interest on bank loans secured by farmland and homes in rural communities tax exempt.
• Modernizing the tax code and a congressional review of the National Credit Union Administration and the Farm Credit Administration to restore a balanced and competitive financial landscape.

“A thriving community banking industry is essential to job creation and restoration and to ensuring every American has access to a robust and diverse financial system that unleashes our nation’s full economic potential,” Romero Rainey said. “ICBA stands with the nation’s community banks in working to enact bipartisan solutions that everyone can agree on and promoting a strong, resilient economy that benefits everyone. We are looking forward to having community bankers share their stories of strength and resiliency with policymakers this week.”

Last week ICBA released its full list of policy priorities. For more information and the complete agenda, visit www.icba.org/capitalsummit.

About ICBA

The Independent Community Bankers of America creates and promotes an environment where community banks flourish. ICBA is dedicated exclusively to representing the interests of the community banking industry and its membership through effective advocacy, best-in-class education, and high-quality products and services.

With nearly 50,000 locations nationwide, community banks constitute 99 percent of all banks, employ more than 700,000 Americans and are the only physical banking presence in one in three U.S. counties. Holding more than $5 trillion in assets, over $4.4 trillion in deposits, and more than $3.4 trillion in loans to consumers, small businesses and the agricultural community, community banks channel local deposits into the Main Streets and neighborhoods they serve, spurring job creation, fostering innovation and fueling their customers’ dreams in communities throughout America. For more information, visit ICBA’s website at www.icba.org.

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