Overview / Major Events This week has been completely dominated by simultaneous debate in the House and Senate on collective bargaining reform. After a well-attend public hearing on Monday (union members were out in force) both Chambers have spent most of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday debating the merits of the proposed reforms. At the delivery of this newsletter, both the House and Senate used a parliamentary rule to end debate and set a “time certain” for a final vote on the legislation. Once the time certain arrives, ALL debate is stopped, all remaining amendments are voted on without any further debate, and the bill goes to final passage. It used to be an informal rule at the Iowa Capitol that the majority controls the agenda, but the minority controls the clock. However, in recent years the majority party has begun to exercise more control over the length of debate through the rules process. It is clear Republicans WILL have the votes to pass collective bargaining reform in both Chambers and the issue resolved by the close of business Thursday. |
by Hunton & Williams LLP, reprinted with permission A Pittsburgh law firm has recently trained its sights again on community banks. This same law firm previously filed a number of class-action lawsuits against community banks: first, for alleged violations of the ATM fee-disclosure requirements in the Electronic Funds Transfer Act and, more recently, for alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with regard to ATM-accessibility by disabled customers. In its latest attack on community banks, the law firm is sending demand letters to banks threatening litigation over the banks’ websites. The law firm contends the banks’ websites do not comply with the ADA because they allegedly are not accessible by disabled patrons.
ADA website-accessibility standards have not been issued by the federal government. In 2010, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that was considering issuing regulations applying the ADA to websites. Originally, it was expected that DOJ would issue website-accessibility standards for places of public accommodation by the spring of 2014, [1] but the DOJ has now delayed issuing those regulations until 2018. Many have anticipated that ADA website-accessibility rules, if and when they are issued, will resemble the standards set forth in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which are promulgated by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium. [2] As described by the DOJ, the “WAI has created recognized voluntary international guidelines for Web accessibility” which “detail how to make Web content accessible to individuals with disabilities.” Iowa community bankers continue to show support of their local legislators by personally delivering contributions from the CBI PAC fund. Shown meeting with Iowa congressmen are (top left photo): (left) Jim Feudner, President of Bank Iowa-Oskaloosa and Iowa Rep. Guy Vander Linden (R-Dist. 79); (top right photo): (left) Iowa Senator Tim Kapuchian (R-Dist. 38) and Cameron Miles, President & CEO of Keystone Savings Bank-Keystone. Click each photo to see larger.
CBI has evolved their political efforts to concentrate on issues that are of benefit to Iowa’s community banks and their local economies. Our ability to bring forward those issues and projects and to coordinate with other like minded organizations, is supported by our ability to make political contributions to candidates and legislators. 100% of your contributions stay right here in Iowa. Community Bankers of Iowa Political Action Committee (CBI PAC), originally formed in the 1970s, has been vigilant in defense of the views and needs of independent bankers. Last week community bankers around Iowa showed their support of their local legislators by personally delivering contributions from the CBI PAC fund.
Shown meeting with Iowa congressmen are (top left photo): (left) Rep. Dave Maxwell (R-Dist. 76) and Mike Geiger, Vice President with County Bank in Sigourney; (top center photo): (L-R) Dave Caris, CEO-Community Bankers of Iowa, Senator Roby Smith (R-Dist 47), Jay Johnson, 1st Vice President-Quad City Bank & Trust (OCB&T) in Bettendorf, Mark Kilmer-QCB&T Board Chair, Chuck Topinka-Board Chair, Keystone Savings Bank in Keystone; (top right photo): (left) Rep. Lee Hein (R-Dist. 96) and Aaron Zumbach, Market President with Fidelity Bank & Trust in Anamosa. Click each photo to see larger. CBI has evolved their political efforts to concentrate on issues that are of benefit to Iowa’s community banks and their local economies. Our ability to bring forward those issues and projects and to coordinate with other like minded organizations, is supported by our ability to make political contributions to candidates and legislators. 100% of your contributions stay right here in Iowa. Iowa's elected officials and challenging candidates responded to questions about the Farm Credit System (FCS) at CBI's 4th State Fair Conference, a gathering of Iowa's community bankers and Iowa's leadership held yesterday in Altoona. The 80 banks in the Farm Credit System do not have to pay taxes on mortgage loan interest and other banks are lobbying congress to end that tax break. Supporters of the system say it’s a crucial source of financing for all of rural America, not just farmers.
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley says he supports the FCS, but it has operated outside its charter. “They came to my office to talk to me and I brought up some of the loans that were very questionable loans,” Grassley says. “I got the feeling that they were very embarassed by the issues that I brought up with them.” Former Iowa Ag Secretary Patty Judge is the Democrat who’s challenging Grassley this year. “There are probably reforms that need to be made and I would suggest to you that we are going to have a real opportunity to do that next year as we write the new Farm Bill,” Judge says. Republican Congressman Steve King of Kiron says the FCS needs to refocus on helping farmers and agribusinesses stay afloat. “They write their own mission statement,” King says. “I asked the chair of the board that before an Ag Committee hearing some time back and, you know, my message to that was: ‘We may have to help you write that mission statement.'” Kim Weaver, a social worker from Sheldon, is the Democrat who’s challenging King. Weaver says she’s troubled by the FCSs loan to Cracker Barrel. “Even though it has a rather rustic appeal, it isn’t exactly a farm-related business,” Weaver says. “I would look at actually having a little bit more monitoring of that because I really don’t think it’s fair.” |
Community Banking NewsCurrent news, events, regulations and other information in banking, and at Community Bankers of Iowa. Stay Connected.
CBI Blog Archives
April 2024
Categories
All
|