Pub. 8 2019 Issue 4

July/August 2019 27 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 An independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue ShieldAssociation. bcbsks.com KBA 7/19 Your business. You’re busy. We get it . Quality health and dental insurance should be simple. » Personalized expertise saves you time and money. » Affordable options – tailored to your needs. » Comprehensive portfolio of employee benefits. » Largest provider network. » Onsite and online wellness programs and tools. What this means is that this fall, Kansas bankers will have the opportunity to share stories with their legislators about the effect the unlevel tax policy has on the community. This is an opportunity that does not come around very often. This effort will only be successful if we have every bank employee engaged on this issue. Legislators need to hear how every time a bank loses a loan to a credit union or to Farm Credit, that interest income is no longer taxed and contributing to the state’s bottom line. They need to understand that the current tax policy punishes every customer who chooses to do business with their local community bank, because if given the same favored tax status, community banks could offer lower interest rates. Legislators need to understand that when they talk about rural revitalization, this is a huge part of that discussion as evening the playing field will help community banks stay in their communities! The opposition will be prepared with stories about how limited their market share is, that their mutual ownership means they aren’t beholding to shareholders and that they are so very limited by their mission to serve low- to moderate-income people. We have to let lawmakers: know that is not the credit union or Farm Credit of today, where they are competing on big commercial loans and serving a more affluent population than most community banks. We hope we can count on you to reach out to your legislators on this very important and critical initiative. With input from bankers across the state, we will be able to show that we are in almost every community across this state and we need a change in tax policy to make the banking industry in Kansas even stronger! If you have any questions or want to know how you can help, please do not hesitate to contact Kathy or Alex at ktaylor@ ksbankers.com or aorel@ksbankers. com, or call us at the KBA office at (785) 232-3444. October 15 - Hays October 16 - Garden City October 17 - Hutchinson October 29 - Lawrence October 30 - Independence October 31 - Junction City KBA is offering this important seminar dedicated to the legal and practical aspects of lending at the federal level. This program will be presented to allow entry-level and inexperienced personnel to learn about the legal side of lending. More experienced lenders may also find this program useful as a review and update of legal issues.