On May 22nd the Congress passed S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act. The vote in both the Senate and the House was bipartisan and POTUS signed the bill on May 24th. Passage of S. 2155 was the culmination of several years of focused and dedicated hard work by ICBA and the nation’s community bankers it represents. Pure and simple, this was a victory for the community banking industry and the association formed by community banks to exclusively represent their interests in the nation’s capital.
Long ago, community banks recognized that to have a seat at the national policy table they would have to create an association focused on their best interests. And so, the Independent Community Bankers of America was born in 1930. S. 2155 represents the triumph of a dedicated voice focused exclusively on the best interests of community banks. It is a community bank bill, start to finish. It is a testament to the power of a dedicated voice for community banks. Does anyone seriously believe that a bill dedicated nearly exclusively to regulatory relief for the nation’s smaller community banks could have passed without ICBA?
No matter how others might spin it, this was an ICBA and community bank triumph. Ask the Senators and the Representatives who voted for passage of the bill who they were trying to help. (Hint: It wasn’t Wall Street.) This bill passed because ICBA fought hard over a period of years to enact a bill that would enshrine the principle of tiered regulation. Wall Street institutions (aka mega banks), and the numerous trade groups they control or have outsized influence within, did everything they could to tuck amendments into the bill that would benefit only mega banks – they failed. They failed because of one reason – ICBA and the nation’s community banks.
THAT is the power of having an association that is dedicated solely to one constituency – one mission – community banks.
Community banks will flourish because their national trade group, ICBA, exists to give voice to the them by sitting at the policy table in Washington.