Last year marked ICBC’s 50th anniversary, and I am pleased to report that the association is fantastically positioned for its next half-century!
Financially, ICBC’s balance sheet eclipses most non-profit industry standards when it comes to fiscal diversity, security and strength. The board and management are committed to making prudent decisions to ensure that financial strength endures.
On the membership front, ICBC continues to welcome new member banks and associate members even as the industry continues to consolidate. Our members recognize the value of ICBC’s mission and work and are committed to aligning their brand with ICBC. We take our responsibilities towards our members seriously and appreciate the trust they have placed in our organization.
ICBC also continues to earn respect, establish credibility and demonstrate integrity through its collaboration and coalition-building with various industry leaders throughout the state. We have worked hard on multiple fronts to ensure that the issues facing community banks and small businesses are heard in the halls of the Colorado legislature, state governmental agencies and in Washington, D.C.
Looking ahead, ICBC is facing some significant challenges in the Colorado 2024 legislative session. We will be vigilantly monitoring any proposed bills that may affect housing, labor and employment, taxation, energy and other areas of concern to small businesses.
Our primary concern, however, is a bill that would allow credit unions to buy the assets of banks. This expected bill gained momentum in the wake of the Division of Banking Sunset Review Report, which is issued every 10 years by the Colorado Office of Policy, Research and Regulatory Reform (COPRR), an independent division of the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA).
During the report process, ICBC met with COPRR to express concerns over potential recommendations and argued that the reviews should be limited to technical and ministerial matters, not used as governmental advocacy for substantial or significant changes that fundamentally transform the way industries compete and do business. Such proposals should go through the legislative process, where they can be broadly analyzed and examined to determine the potential ramifications to consumers and the state.
Despite vocalizing our concerns, the authors of the report, released in October, not only recommended the expansion of credit union membership and business lines, but that credit unions should have the right to buy bank assets. This was based, in part, on a factual error in the report, specifically that credit unions pay state income taxes (they do not), and therefore, there would be no tax loss to the state.
ICBC protested to DORA and the Governor’s Office, and the report was recently amended to delete the assertion that credit unions pay state income taxes. But the finding that these purchases would have little fiscal impact on the state was not deleted, creating what appears to be a state-supported talking point for credit union advocates.
Obviously, ICBC will vigorously oppose this latest mission creep by the credit union industry. We will not only focus on the tax impacts the bill would have on the state, but also the impacts on small businesses, agricultural lending and philanthropy that will dissipate when credit unions acquire the assets of banks — especially community banks.
It might be a new year, but it sure seems like déjà vu all over again.
