WBA Releases 2019-2020 Advocacy Report
Every two years, WBA is proud to document the advocacy efforts accomplished on behalf of its membership. WBA’s priority through advocacy is to ensure there are no legislative, regulatory, or judicial obstacles barring you from serving your customers to the best of your abilities. This year’s advocacy report is now available and features several victories for the Wisconsin banking community.
Capitol Days, an annual event that allows bankers to meet with state legislators or their staff, continued to develop a dialogue on the issues that are critical to bankers, their customers, and the economy. 2019 saw this event take place in the office of Wisconsin State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, while the 2020 edition took a virtual approach.
Other conversational efforts included Rose Oswald Poels as a speaker for the introduction of a bill to combat elder financial abuse, as well as a meeting between WBA’s Agricultural Bankers Section, FSA Farm Loan Chief Tom Brandt, and Administrator for DATCP’s Division of Agricultural Development Krista Knigge about the issues that Wisconsin’s ag bankers continue to face.
In addition, WBA files comment letters with government agencies soliciting input from the public on proposed regulatory updates and policy guidance. Recent letters have been submitted to the OCC, FDIC, Council on Environmental Equality, FRB, and HUD, to name a few.
Many opportunities allow WBA to be a third-party advocate in judicial hearings. In the past two years, the WBA-supported omnibus bill was passed, an amicus brief was filed for the Koss Corporation v. Park Bank case that resulted in Park Bank’s favor, and both the CARES Act and the SAFE Banking Act and Corporate Transparency Act were passed by the House.
WBA has also helped to raise funds and save money for banks and their customers. A total of $222,000 was raised for Wisbankpac and the Alliance of Bankers Conduit, and nearly $250 million in taxes were saved by small businesses that could have been applied to the forgivable portion of PPP loans through Wisconsin Act 185.
To read more on the 2019-2020 victories and the work that WBA does on behalf of its membership, download the advocacy report here. To find out how you can engage in advocacy efforts for your bank, contact msemmann@wisbank.com.
By, Alex Paniagua
