Independent Banker - September 2022 - 41

Closing the ILC loophole. The
HFSC voted to advance the ICBAbacked
Close the ILC Loophole Act
(H.R. 5912) in June. The legislation
would amend the Bank Holding
Company Act to permanently close
the loophole, which allows industrial
loan companies (ILCs) and their
parent companies to skirt regulatory
oversight. ICBA is working to move
the bill through the House and secure
a Senate cosponsor.
Leveling the credit union playing
field. In July, ICBA leadership banker
Quentin Leighty, CFO and president
of First National Bank of Las Animas,
Colo., went before the House
Financial Services Subcommittee on
Consumer Protection and Financial
Institutions to testify why Congress
should require credit unions to
comply with the Community
Reinvestment Act (CRA). ICBA is
asking for hearings on the credit
union tax exemption and acquisitions
of taxpaying community banks.
Farm credit system lenders. ICBA
is pushing back against the Farm
Credit Administration Independent
Authority Act (H.R. 7768), which
was introduced in May and would
exempt the tax-advantaged Farm
Credit System (FCS) from Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
regulation and the Equal Credit
Opportunity Act (ECOA). This
summer, ICBA sent a letter to the
House and Senate agriculture and
fi nance committees explaining our
objections. We want to stop the bill in
the House and prevent a companion
bill from being introduced in
the Senate.
ICBA continues to urge
representatives and senators to
cosponsor the ECORA Act (H.R.
1977/S. 2202), which would create
a tax exclusion for interest on
loans secured by agricultural land
and residential mortgages in rural
How you can help
ICBA makes it easy to weigh in with lawmakers with ICBA's Be
Heard grassroots resource center. It's filled with tools-everything
from talking points and sample letters to contact resources and
automated emails-to help you reach out and speak out. Visit
icba.quorum.us/campaign/S910 to learn more.
Together, ICBA and its member banks can make a meaningful
diff erence in passing legislation to strengthen our institutions and
our communities.
As ICBA's exemplary
legislative affairs team
actively lobbies for
these issues, community
bankers are needed to
help get items across
the finish line.
Business Administration (SBA)
direct lending. ICBA banker Robert
J. Barnes, president and CEO
of PriorityOne Bank in Magee,
Miss., outlined why SBA direct
lending is ill-conceived and would
jeopardize small business access
to capital in testimony before the
House Small Business Committee's
Subcommittee on Oversight,
Investigations, and Regulations
in March.
communities and is actively seeking
more cosponsors.
Tax increases. ICBA is carefully
monitoring any proposed tax
increases in the budget reconciliation
bill. ICBA is opposed to any tax
increases and any provisions that
would require community banks to
report customer fi nancial data to
the IRS. ICBA sent a letter to both
House and Senate leadership in July
outlining the reasons these provisions
are ill-advised.
SBA direct lending. ICBA
continues to add cosponsors to
the Protecting Access to Credit for
Small Businesses Act (H.R. 6037/S.
3382), which would prohibit Small
Advocacy is everything
This is just a sampling of the major
issues on ICBA's legislative agenda
for the rest of the year. As ICBA's
exemplary legislative aff airs team
actively lobbies for these issues,
community bankers are needed to
help get items across the fi nish line.
There is no substitute for
grassroots advocacy. Legislators want
to hear from their constituents. As
summer turns to fall, now is the time
to reach out to members of Congress
and their staff and help move ICBAbacked
legislation forward. 
Aaron Stetter (aaron.stetter@
icba.org) is ICBA's executive
vice president of advocacy and
strategic engagement.
independentbanker.org Q 41
http://icba.quorum.us/campaign/S910 http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - September 2022

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