Community Bankers of Iowa Monthly Banker Update February 2014 | Page 12

Regulatory Relief Bill Hits Milestone
Written By: Paul Merski, ICBA Executive Vice President, Congressional Relations & Chief Economist

After grassroots advocacy blitz, CLEAR Relief Act tops 100 House, 20 Senate cosponsors
With the 2014 session of the 113th Congress
underway, ICBA and community bankers
nationwide have put the industry in position to
advance key regulatory relief legislation. Last
fall, the association launched a grassroots blitz
to build support for ICBA-advocated measures
to secure relief from the crushing regulatory
burden affecting community banks. Of course,
community bankers responded, which is
paying dividends in this election-shortened
congressional session.
The blitz
Following the recent ICBA advocacy blitz,
more than 30 members of the House and
Senate have signed on as cosponsors of
the Community Lending Enhancement and
Regulatory (CLEAR) Relief Act of 2013 (H.R.
1750/S. 1349). The grassroots push has
brought the cosponsor total to more than 100
in the House and more than 20 in the Senate.
Surpassing these milestones is crucial to
continue pushing this legislation ahead in the
coming weeks and months before Congress
turns its attention to the 2014 elections. The
November elections will limit legislative activity
in the latter half of the year as well as the hope
that community bank priorities will be on the
docket.
To get a head start on the year, ICBA waged
a grassroots effort to maximize support
for the CLEAR Relief Act heading into the
2014 session. The blitz called on community
bankers to involve their employees and
bank directors in calls and emails to their
congressional delegations. The result has
been a success, both in the number of
lawmakers signing onto the legislation and
in the role of the members of Congress who
have joined as cosponsors.
New Senate cosponsors include Senate
Banking Committee members Tom Coburn
(R-Okla.), Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) and Joe
Manchin (D-W.Va.). Meanwhile, House
Financial Services Committee members
Sean Duffy (R-Wis.), Scott Garrett (R-N.J.),
Robert Hurt (R-Va.), Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.),
Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) and Keith Rothfus
(R-Pa.) have signed on as new cosponsors
of the House bill. (See related feature on
page 46, “Headstrong for the Cause” on

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CBI Banker Update | FEBRUARY 2014

three lawmakers who have helped advance
regulatory relief on Capitol Hill.)
The bill’s measures
These lawmakers and the committees they
serve on are instrumental in advancing the
CLEAR Relief Act and other ICBA-priority
measures. As for the legislation itself, which
is inspired by ICBA’s Plan for Prosperity
regulatory relief platform, it offers tangible
reforms that will have a real impact on
community banks and their customers. Among
its provisions, the CLEAR Relief Act would:
• provide “qualified mortgage” status under
the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau’s ability-to-repay rules for any
mortgage originated and held in portfolio
for at least three years by a lender with
less than $10 billion in assets;
• exempt from escrow requirements any
first-lien mortgage held by a lender with
less than $10 billion in assets;
• exempt servicers that service 20,000 or
fewer mortgages from certain new
servicing rules;
• exempt mortgages of less than $250,000
from independent appraisal requirements;
• eliminate the requirement that financial
institutions mail annual privacy notices
even when they have not changed their
policies;
• exempt community banks with assets
of less than $10 billion from the
Sarbanes-Oxley 404(b) internal-controls
assessment mandates; and
• require the Federal Reserve to revise
the Small Bank Holding Company Policy
Statement by increasing the qualifying
asset threshold from $500 million to $5
billion.
The big picture
Community bankers and ICBA are moving
in the CLEAR Relief Act in the right direction
to get its much-needed regulatory relief
provisions through Congress. But make
no mistake, we still have a long way to go
to make that happen. The legislation still
needs to advance through committee and
get approval by both chambers of Congress
before they can make it to the president’s
desk.
(Regulatory Relief continues on next page)