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THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
By John J. Witkowski, President & CEO
By John J. Witkowski, President & CEO
The Governor & The Credit Union Bill
On Friday, December 6, the Legislature delivered S.727A Montgomery/ A.3320, Zebrowski) to the Governor for his action -- to either sign it into law, or veto it. This legislation would
extend the State Business Development District Program to credit unions, allowing them to participate in the program.
IBANYS strongly opposed this legislation when it was being considered and eventually passed by the Legislature last spring, and we continue to oppose it. We have made our opposition known to the Governor's office, and we
also asked IBANYS member banks to email the Governor's office to urge him not to sign this bill, which would provide credit unions with a real property tax exemption for the branch offices established under the program -- enabling them to escape full payment of one of the few taxes they are actually obligated to pay.
At a time when local governments are functioning under a tax cap, it makes no sense to provide a ten-year real property tax deduction to credit unions which are not paying other taxes.
Please join us in opposing this legislation, byemailing the Governor's office and urge him not to sign the bill. E
mail your comments to:
- Legislative.Secretary@exec.ny.gov . . .and also to
- Legislative.Correspondence@exec.ny.gov
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We also have seen other developments in Albany, including both the Senate and Assembly gearing up to address the projected $6 billion state budget deficit, and the ongoing exodus of Republican members of the State Senate. . .and, in Washington, New Yorkers are trying to eliminate the SALT tax cap.
With less than three weeks until the new year brings with it new state legislative and congressional sessions, IBANYS is once again ready to work in tandem with our membership to do everything possible to protect and advance the interests of our only constituency: New York community banks.
As always, thanks for all that you do for community banking in New York State.
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- Please take a moment to review our 2020 IBANYS Meetings Calendar below including the printable attachment. Mark your calendars, share it with your colleagues, and plan to join us for these important educational and networking sessions.
- I also encourage you to review our Webinar schedule, which offers a wide array of programs designed for community banks and their officers, directors and employees.
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Follow IBANYS On Social Media!
Connect With Us Today!
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Meetings
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Mark Your Calendars For These Upcoming 2020 IBANYS Conferences:
IBANYS' 2020 Meetings Calendar is now available (see printable document above)
. . . Please note we are introducing
new meeting locations in New York City. We encourage all New York community bankers and IBANYS associate members, preferred providers, potential vendors, sponsors & exhibitors to
print it out, share it with your colleagues and "save the date."
Brochures and registration information will be emailed within the next few days for Human Resource, Compliance NYC and Directors NYC Conferences.
Human Resource Conference
January 14, 2020 January 15, 2020
DoubleTree by Hilton Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel
1111 Jefferson Road 40 Civic Center Plaza
Rochester, NY 14623 Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
585-475-1510 845-485-5300
Compliance Conference
January 28, 2020 March 3, 2020 March 4, 2020
Pryor Cashman DoubleTree by Hilton Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel
7 Times Square, 40
th Fl. 1111 Jefferson Road 40 Civic Center Plaza
New York, NY 10036 Rochester, NY 14623 Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
212-421-4100 585-475-1510 845-485-5300
Directors Conference
February 4, 2020 April 7, 2020 April 8, 2020
Pryor Cashman RIT Inn & Conf. Center Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel
7 Times Square, 40
th Fl. 5257 West Henrietta Rd. 40 Civic Center Plaza
New York, NY 10036 Henrietta, NY 14467 Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
212-421-4100 585-359-7746 845-485-5300
- Have an idea for one of our meetings? Want to see a meeting or forum on a different subject? We want to hear from you!
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IBANYS Education/Webinars
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The Independent Bankers Association of New York State (IBANYS) partners with CBWN to bring you more than 150 webinars each year covering compliance, lending, regulations, security, operations, new accounts, collections, fraud, security and other topics. Not only that, but every time you purchase a webinar, you support IBANYS, because a portion of your registration comes directly to us. Thank you!
You can view the 2019 Webinar Schedule here or by category here. In addition, CBWN has made some recent updates to provide better service to its consumers. Unfortunately, some changes may have caused you to miss important webinar announcements. Please read the IBANYS letter to view the updates and ensure that you do not miss another webinar.
CBWN and IBANYS thank you for your continued support of the education in the community banking industry.
Purchase Webinars Individually or Purchase the Series to Save 10%!
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| Albany |
The 2020 session of the New York State Legislature will begin in early January.
Click here
for the 2020 New York State Legislative Calendar.
Senate Dems: Tax Hike Should Not Be First Option
To Close Budget Gap
With an anticipated $6.1 billion state budget gap next year, New York State
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester County) said this week her conference she does not want
a tax hike to be a first option for closing that budget gap. (Last week, Assembly Speaker Carl Heaste, D-Bronx, said taxing New York's wealthiest residents could be the best way to fill the state's looming budget gap.) Deputy Senate Majority Leader Mike Gianaris (D-Queens) said there's a "discussion to be had" over whether richer people should be asked to pay more, but that's something we haven't resolved yet." Stewart-Cousins stated: "Just to be clear we are obviously concerned - it is critical - our first fallback thing isn't 'let's raise taxes,'" Stewart-Cousins said of the budget gap. She noted her conference wants to be involved, including finding solutions to address the growing Medicaid gap. "Hopefully, we'll be able to address it without causing a lot of pain."
Governor Cuomo has not embraced higher taxes for the rich, noting a $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions and the ability of wealthier people to leave the state. Revenue generated by the personal income tax comes in large part from a handful of wealthy people in the state.
Governor Signs Consumer Hot Line Bill
Among the bills passed during the 2019 state legislative session that Governor has recently signed into law was A.3168 (Ortiz)/S.4931 (Sanders). The legislation requires the posting of public notice of the State Department of Financial Services' (DFS)
toll-free consumer's hotline
telephone number in the same location that other DFS public notices are posted. The requirement will be effective as of February 26, 2020
Another GOP State Senator Won't Seek Reelection
Yet another Republican State Senator has announced he will not seek reelection in 2020. Senator Michael Ranzenhofer (R-61st S.D., which runs from the suburbs of Buffalo into Rochester) joined fellow GOP Senate colleagues Chris Jacobs, Robert Ortt, and Bob Antonacci (elected to a judgeship earlier this year) who have left or plan to leave. After last year's election, Republicans lost their majority status and Democrats now hold 40 of the chamber's 63 seats.
Latest Update On "SALT" Tax Cap
Reps. Tom Suozzi & Peter King
Two New York Congressmen -- Democrat
Tom Suozzi (D-L.I) and Republican Peter King -- are
leading a long-shot effort
to eliminate the rule limiting the federal deduction on state and local taxes (SALT) to just $10,000. Suozzi noted: "The SALT cap was particularly unfair to Long Islanders and New Yorkers. It is a tax on taxes already paid, and it hits homeowners whose local taxes fund police, firefighters and other services." The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Pete King (R-L.I.), is expected to pass the House, but faces a dim future in the Senate. Meanwhile, according to the Wall Street Journal, more businesses (312 for 2020, compared to 262 in 2019) are taking advantage of a New York law that lets their employees avoid a federal cap on the amount of state and local taxes they can deduct from their federal returns.
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Washington, D.C.
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ICBA To NCUA: Reconsider Redlining Plan
ICBA urged the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) to
withdraw and redraft its proposed rule to allow tax-exempt credit unions to cut urban communities out of the membership areas they serve.
The NCUA plan would allow federal credit unions to include wealthy suburbs of metropolitan areas in their fields of membership, while leaving out their urban cores. ICBA said the agency's proposal does not adequately address a circuit court ruling that this redlining policy could be discriminatory.
Meanwhile, ICBA also told Congress that credit unions avoid paying billons in taxes every year and pocket up to one-third of every tax-subsidized dollar. The message was drawn from ICBA's
"Do They Know They're Tax-Exempt?" research paper, and noted credit unions pocketed approximately $900 million last year that was not returned to credit union members.
The messages to the NCUA and Congress are part of
ICBA's "Wake Up" campaign
that encourages policymakers to open their eyes to the growing threats posed by credit unions and to
their risky practices, costly tax subsidies, and irresponsibly lax oversight.
More information on how credit unions have abandoned their original mandate and failed the communities they're supposed to serve is available at icba.org.
Latest On Legislation Supporting
Minority Depository Institutions
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Jill Sung
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ICBA urged the House Financial Services Committee to advance legislation to support minority depository institutions. A markup is scheduled to start today. ICBA supports the "Ensuring Diversity in Community Banking Act of 2019" (H.R. 5322), introduced by Rep. Meeks (D-Queens). H.R. 5322 would streamline the Community Development Financial Institution application and recertification processes for community banks, and establish a new "Impact Bank" designation for qualifying banks serving low-income borrowers. ICBA also supports the "Expanding Opportunity for Minority Depository Institutions Act" (H.R. 5315), introduced by Rep. Beatty, D-OH., to create a Treasury Department program for larger banks to mentor MDIs and community banks under $2 billion. ICBA Minority Bank Advisory Council Chair (and
IBANYS' Government Relations Committee member) Jill Sung (President & CEO, Abacus Federal Savings) recently testified before the committee
on how policymakers can help minority depository institutions obtain capital, such as by reducing regulatory costs.
OCC To Increase Oversight Of LIBOR Risk
The OCC will increase regulatory oversight of LIBOR risk due to its likely shuttering as an active index by the end of 2021. The note was included in the agency's latest semiannual risk report. T
he OCC said operational risk is elevated as banks adapt to an increasingly complex operating environment, credit risk has accumulated in many portfolios, and recent volatility in market rates has increased interest rate risk.
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Volcker Dies;
Posthumously Warns Against Attacks On Fed
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker passed away
Sunday in New York at the age of 92. He had also served as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
In a final essay published posthumously, Volcker called President Trump's attacks on the Fed a "matter of great concern" since the central bank is "carefully designed to be free of purely partisan attacks." He urged the current members of the Fed and members of Congress who are responsible for oversight of the central bank to protect the Fed's ability to act free of "partisan political purpose."
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ICBA Action Alerts & Grassroot Efforts
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Support ICBA Action Alerts Regarding Credit Unions
New York community bankers: Please participate ICBA's "action alerts" -- which oppose credit unions' efforts to further expand their powers and authorities, and seek to level the playing field on behalf of community banks. Make your voice heard in Washington.
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IBANYS Preferred Partners
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For more information on IBANYS Preferred Partners - click here: https://ibanys.net/preferred-partners/
- Pentegra Retirement Services
- Luse Gorman, PC
- Compliance Anchor
- Freed Maxick CPAs
- T.Gschwender & Associates, Inc.
- Homestead Funding Corp. -
- Promontory Interfinancial Network
- Travelers
- ICBA
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Industry Trends & Updates
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Barret Graduate School Of Banking Program May 17 - 22, 2020
- - Register Soon!
The Paul W. Barret, Jr. School of Banking
-- endorsed by the ICBA -- has scheduled its
Annual May Graduate Program May 17 - 22, 2020 in Memphis, Tennessee. The program is presented one week per year for three years, and includes 130 hours of classroom study, nine on-campus case studies and eight home study problems. The Barret School
is a non-profit independent school created by and governed by a Board of Regents, whose members are executives from banks and other firms involved with the financial services industry.
The mission of the Barret School is to provide an adult learning experience for the career-oriented individual in commercial banking or a related financial services industry business.
The commitment at Barret is to assist the student in attaining an excellent educational experience of benefit to both the student and the sponsoring employer. Registration is filling up, so interested bankers should plan to register early.
To review the program, click here.
For details, email Executive Director Chris Kelley at ckelley@barret.ws or visit
https://barret.ws/programs/graduateschool/.
FDIC 3rd Quarter State Profiles Now Available
The third-quarter 2019
are now available online at FDIC.gov. The profiles are formatted as a quarterly data sheet summation of economic and banking conditions for all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Visit fdic.gov, c
lick on the Industry Analysis tab, then on Bank Data and Statistics, and on FDIC State Profiles. To read the profiles for the New York region,
click here
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The Economy: By The Numbers
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At its final meeting of the year today, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged. Officials opted to see how the economy fares following three rate cuts during 2019 (after
slowly raising rates between late 2015 and 2018.) The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) kept the funds rate in a target range of 1.5%- 1.75%. In explaining the decision, the FOMC indicated monetary policy is likely to stay where it is for an unspecified time, though officials will continue to monitor conditions as they develop. Through the "dot plot" of individual members' future projections, the FOMC indicated little chance of a cut or increase in 2020.
- The November 2019 employment report showed U.S. companies added 266,000, and the unemployment rate ticked back down to 3.5%, matching its earlier 2019 level which was the lowest since 1969. CNBC studied the net changes by industry based on data from the U.S. Labor Department contained in the employment report. The "financial activities" sector added 13,000 jobs for the month. The education and health care industry added the most -- more than 70,000 job.
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The U.S. Labor Department reported that U.S. consumer prices rose more than expected in November. The Department's consumer price index increased 0.3% last month. The CPI advanced 0.4% in October, and In the 12 months through November the CPI rose 2.1% after gaining 1.8% in October. Meanwhile, a
ccording to Morning Consult's
Index of Consumer Sentiment (ICS),
U.S. consumer confidence remains strong during one of the busiest shopping periods of the year. The Index moderately increased to 112.0 this past week, just shy of its 52-week high, and better than this time last year.
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Banking News
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The Chemung County Chamber of Commerce honored
Elmira Savings Bank,
celebrating a milestone anniversary date (150 years) and for its dedication to the community. IBANYS sends
congratulations to
President & CEO (and IBANYS' Vice Chairman) Tom Carr and his entire team!
Ballston Spa National Bank announced support of $36,000 has been awarded to local Capital Region organizations, including more than $10,000 in donations from the Bank and its customers to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York. "Today's donations are estimated to provide more than 40,000 meals to those in need. This would not have been possible without the generosity of our customers," said President & CEO (and former IBANYS Chairman) Chris Dowd. "We're also incredibly proud of the BSNB staff members that rallied their communities to address the need." The remaining $26,000 in Bank donations is provided to 31 additional organizations, including those that provide support for addiction recovery, veterans and active-duty soldiers, children and youth programs, and programs addressing poverty, hunger and homelessness.
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IBANYS Spotlight Is On...
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Brown Security Solutions, LLC has been a leader in the Electronic and Physical Equipment Security field for more than 40 years across New York State. T
he Brown name has always been synonymous with excellent customer service in Upstate New York. The company is proud of its ability to handle your bank security needs quickly and accurately, each and every time.
Sampling of Services Offered:
Electronic & Physical Security Products, Special Projects, Service Contracts, Burglar/Fire Protection, Surveillance, Card Access Control, ATM & TCR Sales and Service, Vault & Safe Sales and Service.
Please contact Don Musielak at (716) 648-6012, dmusielak@brownsecuritysolutions.com for more information. Or, visit the website at www.brownsecuritysolutions.com.
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. . . That the first known Christmas Club started in 1909, when Merkel Landis, treasurer of the Carlisle (Pennsylvania) Trust Company, introduced the first Christmas savings fund?
The concept was that bank customers could deposit a set amount of money each week into a special savings account and receive the money back at the end of the year for their Christmas shopping. The Carlisle Trust Company's first club
generated 350 customers who saved about $28 each, and the money was disbursed on December 1 of that year.
. . .Now you know.
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New York community banks play a key role in our state and local economies. Help spread the good news among our customers, business, elected leaders and the media!
John J. Witkowski
President & Chief Executive Officer
Stephen W. Rice
Director of Government Relations & Communications
Linda Gregware
Director of Administration & Membership Services
William Y. Crowell III
Legislative Counsel
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