Strong turn-out at Capitol for Minnesota's Bank Day

Northwestern Financial Review, Mar 1-Mar 14, 2004 by Bengtson, Tom

Nearly 200 Minnesota bankers heard from leading law-makers at the 2004 Bank Day at the Capitol, hosted by the Minnesota Bankers Association on Feb. 10 in St. Paul. The event attracted several leaders in the Minnesota legislature, the governor's chief of staff, and U.S. Rep. Mark Kennedy. Former U.S. Sen. David Durenberger addressed bankers at lunch.

The annual event is proving to be one of the association's success stories, in terms of member participation. Attendance was 60 percent ahead of last year, and MBA Executive Vice President Joe Witt noted he was particularly pleased that representatives from 70 banks participated, compared to representatives from 48 banks last year. There are 465 banks in Minnesota. Seventy-seven of the 180 participants listed in the registration list for the 2004 event represented the state's largest banks, Wells Fargo & Co., and U.S. Bank.

Although it was conducted the same day as a credit union trade group conducted its "day at the capitol," credit union issues hardly came up. The top issue for the MBA concerned the way banks collateralize public funds. MBA would like to see the state adopt the South Dakota model, which allows banks to pledge collateral against an aggregate of public funds, rather than naming collateral for specific deposits.

MBA is working with lawmakers on a predatory lending bill promoted by the state's Attorney General addressing equity stripping. The association also is working for legislation that would permit the electronic filing of certain forms related to agricultural loans.

One issue not on the table is home office protection, which had been a candidate for reform in the Commerce Department's annual banking bill. Rep. Greg Davids, chairman of the House Committee on Commerce, Jobs and Economic Development, said Gov. Tim Pawlenty decided not to include any provisions related to the state's home office protection law. The law prevents investors from chartering a new bank in a town with a population of less than 10,000 if the existing bank in town refuses to grant permission. Pawlenty, who spoke to the bankers at last year's Bank Day at the Capitol, was in Iraq on Feb. 10. Kevin Murphy, the deputy commerce commissioner for banking, was another no-show. He was in Connecticut attending a hearing involving the acquisition of The St. Paul Companies.

U.S. Rep. Kennedy, who serves on the House Financial Institutions Committee, encouraged bankers to look into the new health savings accounts. He said FDIC reform, regulatory relief, bankruptcy reform and regulatory oversight for the housing GSEs are issues that continue to be in play. He cited extension of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and passage of Check 21 legislation as accomplishments.

Many of the lawmakers had friendly messages for the bankers. "Our agenda is your agenda," said Senate Minority Leader Dick Day. "There is no way my caucus should be sideways on any of the banking issues. If we are, let me know."

Speaker of the House Steve Sviggum said some of the most liberal members of the legislature like to pick on bankers. "They come up with harassment issues, things like trying to tell you what order you should process checks, or what your ATM fees should be," Sviggum commented. "Those issues will sleep with the fish," he said, before the room burst into applause.

Davids went out of his way to note the effectiveness of the MBA staff. "Your government relations staff is the finest in the industry," he said.

Sen. Dan Sparks, one of two bankers in the Senate, commented along the same lines: "You are in good hands with Steve and Joe," he said, referring to MBA vice president for government relations Steve Johnson and Witt.

By Tom Bengtson