Pub. 5 2016 Issue 1

January 2016 9 l e a d i n g a d v o c a t e f o r t h e b a n k i n g i n d u s t r y i n k a n s a s statehouse insiders don’t expect the Supreme Court to rule on the adequacy issue until later this year, likely well past the adjournment of the 2016 state legislative session. Banking Issues in Play at Statehouse KBA will once again be engaged on a number of banking- related issues this legislative session. The Kansas League of Municipalities (KLM) and the City of Topeka are pursuing legislation that would enable cities to take temporary possession of certain abandoned properties. KBA will work to ensure that properties that are subject to a mortgage are not impacted by the proposal. KBA has also learned there may be a renewed push for state authorization of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loans that have the potential of creating troublesome liens on properties. The PACE loan concept allows municipalities to create energy financing districts and issue bonds that help property owners finance energy efficiency improvements. The PACE concept has been adopted in a number of states, but was rejected by the Kansas Legislature in 2010. It appears that issue may resurface in 2016. KBA will also work with the Office of the State Bank Commissioner on a trailer (clean-up) bill fine tuning State Banking Code reauthorization legislation that was adopted in 2015. As in the past, KBA will keep a watchful eye and constant presence at the Kansas Statehouse. House Financial Institutions Committee Reorganized The make-up of committees, including who serves as Chairman and Vice Chairman in the Kansas House of Representatives, is one of the many powers granted to the Kansas Speaker of the House. In late November, House Speaker Ray Merrick exercised those powers by merging the House Financial Institutions Committee and the House Insurance Committee into a newly formed 23-member House Financial Institutions and Insurance (HFI&I) Committee. Merrick named Rep. Scott Schwab (R-Olathe) as the Chairman and Rep. Jim Kelly (R-Independence) as Vice Chairman of the committee. Rep. Roderick Houston (D-Wichita) was named the ranking minority member of the new HFI& I Committee by House Minority Leader Tom Burroughs. Schwab Kelly Houston