Executive Letter: The Importance of Attending Capitol Day
By Rose Oswald Poels
Grassroots advocacy is at the foundation of WBA’s advocacy efforts to ensure that elected officials in Wisconsin and Washington D.C. understand the impact of their initiatives on the banking industry. The relationships that many of you develop with your representatives play a critical role in the success of WBA’s advocacy priorities. As part of our grassroots advocacy, WBA’s hosts an annual Capitol Day in Madison to help bankers around the state connect with their legislators on issues important to the industry and on actions our government can take to aid in the economic growth and strength of our communities.
As our 2022 Capitol Day quickly approaches, I invite you to join your fellow bankers in meeting face-to-face at the State Capitol to advocate on several key issues affecting the banking industry this session. Few Wisconsin legislators have experience in banking and your grassroot involvement is essential in reinforcing the impact legislative proposals will have on your bank, the industry, and your communities.
As we have mentioned in other publications, there will a public hearing on the credit union powers’ bill — SB 451 — on January 11, just one week before WBA’s Capitol Day. The timing of your attendance and conversations with legislators and their staff will be critical in helping us either defeat any further progress made or amend the bill. Moreover, the credit union industry is hosting their annual Capitol Day a week after ours, so it is imperative that we have a strong showing of bankers on January 18 to offset the large numbers we expect the credit union industry to have present at their event.
The event includes hearing from several State Assembly and Senate leaders, moderated discussions with political insiders Scott Jensen and Chuck Chvala, and WBA’s Government Relations update on the legislative session thus far. This information will provide every attendee the knowledge needed to be prepared for the afternoon of meeting face-to-face with your elected legislators in meetings WBA will schedule.
Again, the relationships bankers build at Capitol Day assist us in advocating successfully for the banking industry throughout the year. I hope you and/or others from your team will join me and your fellow bankers at the State Capitol in Madison on January 18 for WBA’s annual Capitol Day.
