White House not expected to call for state exam fees

Northwestern Financial Review, Mar 1, 2002

President of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors Neil Milner said he does not expect the Bush administration to call for fees on state-chartered banks to cover the cost of exams. Every year since President Clinton first threatened the fees, Congress has knocked them out of the budget. This year the fees' opponents, led by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, say they are optimistic that the White House will not set itself up for another defeat.

Their confidence increased last year, when a bipartisan group of 18 lawmakers debated the issue on the Senate floor and successfully pushed through an amendment to remove the fees from the 2002 budget.