March Madness: Governor Signs All of WBA’s Top Legislative Priorities
By Lorenzo Cruz
This year the NCAA tournament lived up to the hype and excitement for both mens and womens basketball. Most people think of March Madness and immediately associate it with college basketball. I, on the other hand, envisioned something entirely different.
Behind the backdrop of the tourney, there was a March Madness like feel to the flurry of legislative activity in March for WBA’s government relations team. The swift actions of the State Legislature and Governor Tony Evers matched that same energy level of the tournament with their own furious pace of passing and signing of bills. Governor Evers called for and signed many of WBA’s top legislative priorities into law which are briefly summarized below.
Financial Institutions Modernization was a top priority for WBA. After several sessions of disagreement with the credit unions, a compromise was reached which benefited both banks and credit unions. Below are highlights of the provisions that benefit the banks.
Senate Bill 773, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 128:
• Extends the maximum maturity date of a promissory note issued by a municipality, county, or school district from 10 years to 20 years.
• Increases compensation from $400,000 to $1,000,000 from DFI for losses resulting from the deposit of public money in a failed financial institution.
• Repeals the requirement that financial institutions provide advance notice to DFI before the acquisition, placement, or operation of ATMs.
• Creates a Class H felony to intentionally cause impairment or interruption to any ATM.
• Eliminates 100-mile geographic lending radius restriction from an office on savings and loan associations.
• Eliminates certain lender disclosure requirements for mortgage and variable loans.
The second priority was updating Wisconsin’s trust code law. The last time the trust code was updated was in 2013. Changes to the trust code law were long overdue and desperately needed to remain competitive with other states. The industry worked tirelessly with the State Bar of Wisconsin to craft and pass trust code legislation this session.
Senate Bill 759, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 127:
• Makes several revisions to Wisconsin’s Trust Code.
• Adopts the Uniform Powers of Appointment Act.
• Adopts the Uniform Trust Decanting Act.
• Clarifies state law relating to digital property.
Elder fraud prevention was another key priority for WBA. While the industry was looking for more tools to prevent elder fraud exploitation, it did take a positive step forward by creating a trusted contact list for vulnerable adults at risk and a safe harbor provision for banks.
Senate Bill 628, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 132:
• Defines a “vulnerable adult” as an adult who is at least 65 years of age or adult at risk.
• Defines “financial service providers” to broadly include many financial institutions, including banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, mortgage brokers, insurance companies, and check cashing services.
• Allows financial service providers to create a list of persons the vulnerable adult authorizes to be contacted if financial exploitation is suspected and to notify certain individuals about the suspected financial exploitation.
• Provides immunity from all criminal, civil, and administrative liability for any financial service providers and its employees.
The final priority was ensuring that a technical tax fix for S corps paying state tax at the entry level to qualify for the income tax exemption for certain commercial and ag-purpose loans of $5 million or less was added to the tax revisions bills in the Assembly and Senate. WBA’s GR team worked with legislative leadership, DOR, and the Governor’s office to amend the tax bills in the Joint Finance Committee which was ultimately signed by the Governor.
Senate Bill 616, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 146:
• Makes technical clarification to the income and franchise tax exemption created in 2023 Wisconsin Act 19.
• Provides DOR position authority.
As you can see, the government relations team has had a very busy year filled with many legislative victories for the banking industry at the state capitol. I would like to thank the WBA team, the Board, and the membership at large for your support of our advocacy efforts. Your financial generosity and grassroots activism during the legislative session is critical to WBA’s success and allows the Association’s voice to stand out from the rest.
