Pub. 6 2016-2017 Issue 4

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 January • February 2017 5 Colorado: Your Purple Is Showing ` T he results of the federal elections were a surprise to many people. It shows that you never can predict with certainty what will happen. It also highlights that the entities conducting polls need to reconfigure their operational models to ensure they capture and more accurately reflect sentiments from all segments of the population. Coloradans maintained a split government at the state level and sent all eight incumbents back to Congress. What many call the “down ticket effect” wasn’t in play in the Centennial State. Coloradans did not vote party-line, nor did they collec- tively favor widespread change. Republicans held onto control of the state Senate, while Democrats kept control of the state House of Representatives. CBA’s lobbyists said the election results show how “purple” our state is –meaning it’s not dominated by Republicans (red) or Democrats (blue). It reflects a balance of opinions among the voting population, many of which are unaffiliated with either major political party. CBA and its members have long favored a balance of power in government, not only because shared control is integral to all voices being heard, but because it means bipartisanship is required for proposals to succeed. The results are a better outcome for the people and communities within the state. That balance will be particularly important in the 2017 leg- islative session, when we expect the resurrection of several anti-business bills that CBA helped to defeat during the 2016 session. CBAwill lean on its friends in the legislature to ensure businesses, including banks, are not harmed by short-sighted legislative proposals. I know I amnot alone in applauding the initiatives brought forward by the proponents of Build a Better Colorado. This bipartisan group led the effort to bring about necessary and appropriate reform to the ballot initiative process within the state and the efforts to involve unaffiliated voters in primary, taxpayer funded elections. The reflection of the balanced nature of our state was clearly seen in the process they uti- lized and the passage of propositions 107 and 108, which will reinstate presidential primaries in Colorado, as well as allow unaffiliated voters to participate. There is also much to celebrate in the passage of Amend- ment 71, which will make the process to amend our state’s constitution more reflective of opinions throughout the state and less susceptible to outside groups that have abused the process just to drive voter turnout, with reckless disregard to the long-termnegative effects their proposals could have on our state. The success of this measure reduces the likelihood that Colorado’s business community, including banks, will need to spend valuable resources and capital to defeat proposals that could devastate our economy. Even though the Republican party holds the White House and has the majority in Congress, the fate of regulatory reform efforts at the Federal level remains ambiguous. However, the environment is now more conducive than ever for achieving reasonable, responsible reform. The wholesale rollback of the Dodd-Frank Act is not prudent or appropriate, but some significant reform is possible. It is important that our industry proceeds cautiously in that arena, because broad deregulation could have unforeseen long-termconsequences, both economic and political. There are many unknowns that we will be faced with in the coming months. Our president-elect is a political outsider and few specifics are known about his policies and intentions.While it might appear that Republicans and their newly elected leader have smooth sailing and all green lights ahead, it is important to remember that the margins by which the GOP holds control are not great enough to disregard political opponents. They will need to work with their Democratic colleagues to move anything forward. This type of collaboration brings about the best long-term results for everyone. We do know that new administration’s success or failure could have a trickle-down effect to state-level government. It remains to be seen what impact his selections to fill his cab - inet and nominees to fill roles in regulatory agencies and the United States Supreme Court will have on the country. That said, I remain optimistic for the future and our industry looks forward to working with lawmakers on all sides to do what is best for our economy and for our communities. n David Kelly FirstBank 2016-2017 CBA Chairman Chairman’s Message