January 22, 2020




THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
By John Witkowski, President & CEO

IBANYS 
Updates From IBANYS
This week, Governor Cuomo proposed his 2020-21 state budget in the face of a budget deficit of more than $6 billion. It  called for no major tax hikes, and kept the uptick in state operating costs to 1.9%. IBANYS is reviewing the proposal to determine all sections relevant to community banks. Meanwhile, the Legislature continues its work in committees and on the floor on legislation, including bills of interest to community banks. Also this week, another Republican state senator, Jim Seward (R-51st SD), announced he will not seek reelection -- the seventh incumbent GOP senator to do so. 

On other fronts, IBANYS is finalizing our January 28 Compliance Conference in New York City, preparing for our January 31 IBANYS Board Meeting and working on additional conferences compliance officers and directors scheduled for the remainder of the first quarter.

Today's newsletter provides updates on all of these matters and more.

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IBANYS is offering both our Compliance and Directors Conference in NYC - January 28 & February 4 respectively.  Both meetings will be held at Pryor Cashman LLP, 7 Times Square, 40th Floor, New York, NY.  See complete details and registration information in the meetings section below.
  • 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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MeetingsMeetings
 
Mark Your Calendars For These Upcoming 2020 IBANYS Conferences: 

Click here for IBANYS -   2020 Meeting Dates & Locations   (printable version)

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." 


Detailed agendas and registration information is attached for March 3 & 4 Compliance Conference and April 7 & 8 for the Directors Conference coming soon.  

 
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! 
    Contact Linda Gregware or 
  • John Witkowski with your thoughts and/or comments
IBANYS Education/WebinarsWebinars
  WebinarSchedule2019

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 2020 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.

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%!

View or Purchase the Webinar

Stay-up-to-date with our webinar features by following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn! You can also follow the hashtag #WebinarWednesday on Instagram/Twitter!

Government Relations
AlbanyAlbanyGR

   
 
The Governor's Budget Proposal
Governor Cuomo released his $178 billion state budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2020-21 that begins April 1. The Legislature will now review, debate and negotiate the plan with the Governor's office in advance of the April 1 deadline. The plan would close a $6 billion deficit by reducing the growth in Medicaid, limiting aid to local programs and anticipating tax revenue to grow by $2 billion. Overall spending would grow 6%. No new tax increases were included;  State Budget Director Mujica said none were proposed, noting the top 5% of taxpayers already account for about 62% of the state's personal income tax revenue.
The Governor's budget plan would: 
  • Reconvene the Medicaid Redesign Team to identify $2.5 billion in savings;
  • Reduce the corporate tax rate for small businesses from 6.5% down to 4%, and triple the income cutoff for the tax to benefit more farmers and sole proprietors;
  • Provide investment tax credits for farmers;
  • Repeal a penalty that protects "S corporations"-- the small businesses that do not pay federal income taxes but instead choose to pass corporate income and credits to shareholders for tax purposes.
  • Reduce the state workforce;
  • Reduce state aid to localities, and
  • Legalize and tax recreational marijuana. 
To read the Governor's full "Budget Book" Please click on the link below.

Recent Legislative Activity
S.7104 (Mayer), establishing a set 90-day grace period for the use of credit card reward points when an account is modified, cancelled, closed or terminated.

A.8686 (Kim)/S.6792 (Salazar) , would establish the "empire state inclusive value ledger establishment and administration act" to create a master account and system of individual wallets to make and receive payments to state entities and residents of the state. The legislation was referred to Assembly Banks and Senate Finance Committees.
 
A.4618 (Wright)/S.2106A (Sanders) , to require banks to disclose negative consequences on  credit scores due to alternative loan payment schedule

A.6070 (Seawright)/S.2397 (Comrie), would direct the State Department of Financial Services and the Department of State's Consumer Protection 
Division to conduct a study on consumer awareness and financial education  and make recommendations. 

A.1935 (Zebrowski)/S.4188 (Kennedy), would require financial institutions to notify customers prior to charging them a  fee based on account inactivity

Another GOP Senator Won't Seek Reelection
Due to health reasons, State Senator Jim Seward (R-51st SD) announced he will not seek reelection. The list of  GOP senators who will not return in 2021 now includes: Bob Antonacci (already elected a judge); George Amedore; Betty Little; Michael Ranzenhofer; Joe Robach; Rich Funke; Ken LaValle; Jim Seward. Two others (Robert Ort and Chris Jacobs) have announced they're running for the vacant congressional seat previously held by Chris Collins, who resigned. All but Lavalle are from upstate senate districts. Democrats currently hold 40 of the 63 senate seats.

Washington, D.C.WashingtonGR


The U.S. Senate is immersed solely in the Impeachment trial of President Trump. The House is not in session this week, but will return next Monday. 

ICBA: Repeal CFPB Small Business Data Collecting Requirement
ICBA supports legislation to repeal a requirement that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau develop rules for collecting and reporting data on small-business lending. The Preserving Small Business Lending Act of 2020" (H.R. 5574) would repeal the mandate required by Section 1071 of Dodd-Frank. ICBA wrote: "Small business data collection and reporting will impose significant new and costly burdens on community banks and would only work to delay, thwart the availability, and raise the cost of credit." 

Colorado Blocks Credit Union Purchase Of Community Bank
ICBA commended the Colorado State Banking Board for blocking the purchase of a tax-paying community bank by a tax-exempt credit union. In a nearly unanimous vote, the board found that the transaction would have violated Colorado statute requiring that banks be sold to other banks.


ICBA Action Alerts & Grassroot EffortsICBA

Support ICBA Action Alerts Regarding Credit Unions
  • IBANYS urges New York community bankers to support ICBA's "action alerts" -- including those involving credit unions, closing the ILC loophole and more. Make your voice heard in Washington. Use ICBA's "Be Heard"grassroots action center at www.icba.org
Visit www.icba.org and click on the advocacy tab. 
Banking Industry NewsBankingNews
   
IBANYS Preferred PartnersPreferred
For more information on IBANYS Preferred Partners - click here: https://ibanys.net/preferred-partners/
  • Pentegra Retirement Services
  • Luse Gorman, PC
  • Freed Maxick CPAs
  • T.Gschwender & Associates, Inc.
  • Promontory Interfinancial Network
  • Travelers
  • ICBA
IBANYS Spotlight Is On...spotlight
























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Did You Know?



. . . That the FDIC and Utah Department of Financial Institutions approved the Bank of St. George (a community bank) in December, bringing the number of de novos the federal agency approved in 2019 to nine? Overall, de novo activity slowed in 2019 after reaching a ten-year high in 2018.  


 
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