Pub. 6 2016-2017 Issue 1

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 July • August 2016 7 Build a Better Colorado campaign, which hopes to affect some positive change on the state’s election procedures as well as reform Colorado’s fiscal policies. They include: • An initiated statute to permit unaffiliated voters to vote in either the GOP or Dem primary without affiliating with a party, and to reestablish an early Presidential primary. LetCoVote2016.com • A Constitutional amendment to 1) force regional diversity for signatures needed to qualify for the ballot, requiring 2%of necessary signatures fromeach of the 35 state Senate seats for all initiatives, and 2) require a 55%majority vote for adoption/repeal of Constitutional amendments. www. raisethebarco.com • AConstitutional amendment to do away with a 24 year-old formula in our state constitution, which has repeatedly forced the state to rebate “excess revenue” while simulta- neously under fund education, transportation and other important services. We are confident those issues will be on the November ballot although they have not yet met signature requirements. CBA groups have carefully considered the issues and CBA has provided information and recommendations. CBA's po- sition and priority are reflected as well as our conclusions on how much the banking industry should try to contribute to pro or con campaigns. Additionally the Board unanimously adopted the recommended contributions by bank size (listed below) to fairly distribute contributions across the industry to do our part as an industry. A legal opinion on banks' contributions to issue campaigns is also available on CBA’s website. Also, during CBA's Annual Summit in May, attendees were provided with a handout of information from each of the campaigns to help bankers make informed decisions when casting their ballots in November and to activate them against proposals that could harm the industry. The country's Presidential campaign simply reflects voter volatility. Nothing is certain-- except the need to defeat dan- gerous ideas and raise support for those that benefit Colorado. Please share this information in the near future with your boards of directors, shareholders, customers and fellow busi- ness groups and urge them to join you in spreading the word, volunteering and contributing to the campaigns. We realize the political environment always is fluid and, as you know, absolutely unpredictable this year. Please stay in contact. We would like to hear your views on the issues and we're glad to answer your questions. n Don Childears President and CEO Colorado Bankers Association