PORTFOLIO CHECKS & BALANCES Setting a course for the new Congress By Aaron Stetter, ICBA Community banking legislative priorities for 2023 Institute robust agency oversight. ICBA is asking Congress for greater oversight of federal financial agencies to ensure rulemaking follows notice and comment requirements and does not informally convey new requirements in press releases or social media. More oversight of fintechs and cryptocurrency firms is also needed to protect the financial system. Oppose climate risk regulation for community banks. Community banks' ability to support their customers and communities must not be stymied by climate risk proposals and regulations- including concentration limits, stress testing, mandatory disclosures and capital requirements. CBA is getting the community banking message out, from sending a letter detailing ICBA's policy priorities to every member of the new Congress to reinforcing that messaging with advertisements in Politico, Capitol Hill's must-read publication. Just as important, ICBA is working with individual I community bankers and ICBAaffiliated state associations to reach out to members of Congress and their staff to provide real-world insights into why these issues are essential for a vibrant economy. Whether it's unfinished business from the 117th Congress that has been thoroughly vetted and received bipartisan support, to Scrap credit card routing mandates. ICBA continues to strongly oppose controversial legislation that would create complex new credit card routing mandates that would force an overhaul of the payments landscape at significant systemic cost to consumers and the community banks that serve them. Preserve SBA bank lending. ICBA strongly opposes direct lending under the Small Business Administration's 7(a) program and its proposal to allow nonbank fintech lenders to participate in the 7(a) loan program. ICBA urges legislation to block this fresh initiatives put forward by community bankers based on their firsthand knowledge of what works in their communities, here are the agenda items ICBA is prioritizing on Capitol Hill. independentbanker.org // 43 Photo by LUNAMARINA/iStockhttp://www.independentbanker.org