Pub. 5 2015-2016 Issue 1

16 O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S - H E L P I N G C O L O R A D A N S R E A L I Z E D R E A M S CBA Annual Report State Government Relations • 149 bills tracked and/or worked on • Defeated an attempted ban on some interchange fees • Secured banks’ ability to send electronic statements to holders of trust accounts, as Colorado lawwas previously silent on the issue • Protected banks from challenging reporting require- ments for at-risk adult customers • Armed the state's attorney general to prosecute extortion claims for patent infringement, shielding banks and small businesses • Blocked an attempt to invade residents’ privacy and provide unfettered access to state-held records for all branches of government Federal Government Relations • Chaired national task force and worked with federal lawmakers to push regulatory relief, on numerous issues including: o HB-1210 which would make portfolio loans automatically compliant with QM and ATR, o a proposal in the agencies to exempt well capitalized banks from tedious capital calculations, and o a proposal that would tailor bank regulation (past and future) by bank business model and risk profile • Worked to educate federal and state leaders on challenges of unfair competition from tax subsidized credit union and the Farm Credit System, and banking the marijua- na industry, as well as supporting legislation to permit banking where marijuana is state legal • Provided strong support for Friends of Traditional Banking, a super PAC, which helped to elect Colorado Senator Cory Gardner, to federal office • Met with members of Colorado’s congressional delega- tion dozens of times Public Relations and Information Services • Now in the third year of The Center for Bank Advocacy: A Training Practicum, with a class of 8 participants from banks of varying size. Speakers have included legislators, lobbyists, bank communicators and community leaders • Continued promotion of SmallBizLending.org, launched in 2012. Grew partnerships and social media visibility • Developed two new handbooks to educate and assist members in industry and policy advocacy • Increased readership of CBA’s weekly newsletter, as well as followers of CBA’s Twitter feeds • CBA remains a sought-after resource for members of the media, across the globe. The most frequent topic of conversation continued to be marijuana and banking