The quickly changing political landscape has brought about great new risks to employers and the banking industry. Both political parties are pushing back against corporate entities, advancing legislation, and policy based on the day’s latest angry tweet storm or outlandish conspiracy theories. Bearing that in mind, it is critical that the banking industry doubles down on its efforts to be a leading advocate and proactive educator in this current political climate.

Thankfully, the Arizona Bankers Association has a long history of serving as the chief advocate for Arizona’s banking industry. In fact, the first priority in the Association’s mission is to provide “premier government relations advocacy,” and we have been very successful. In recent years, we have advanced legislation to reform the state’s pooled collateral system, to address foreign money judgments, and to authorize the use of account registry services and many other banking priorities. We have also pushed back, and won, against many of the most egregious efforts to regulate who banks can and can’t do business with or to legislate new costly mandates. In other instances, the Association engages on behalf of the banking community by filing legal briefs in the many pending cases that would otherwise dramatically shift longstanding business practices or established understandings of the law.

A key part of a meaningful advocacy effort is to be an educator, as proactively as possible. It is a daunting task to try to overcome and get in front of the misinformation that seems so prevalent today. In this new climate, much of the political debate happens in echo chambers of tweets, soundbites, and misinformation. The very basics of the essential role of banks in America’s free enterprise system seems to have gotten lost. Legislators’ lack of understanding of the risk management and fiduciary responsibilities that banks hold makes it very difficult for them to effectively evaluate and make an educated vote on the bills that come across their desks. Through direct feedback from you, the Association’s members, and our partnership with the American Bankers Association, we have equipped ourselves to capably educate policymakers both before and during the legislative process.

We already knew many of the risks that the banking industry would face when the Arizona Legislature resumed in January. Our opponents spent the summer preparing to advance “ESG” legislation in multiple states. ESG is a perfect example of where conspiracy and a minimal working knowledge of how banks work collide. We can expect to see more mandates on who banks can and can’t do business with. Ironically, the support or opposition to mandates to bank firearms or to not bank oil and gas will fall along party lines, yet neither recognizes the inconsistencies of their position. We should also expect the unexpected as, each year, new bills that would impact banking are introduced. With so many new faces that entered the Legislature in January, it is ever more crucial that new and incumbent legislators are educated on the nuances of the banking industry, increasing their understanding in a way that we get in front of misinformation coming down the pipe. We are prepared.

Much of the Association’s success can be attributed to the active involvement of the Association’s membership. We maintain an active Government Relations Committee and we are thankful for the membership engagement in the Political Action Committee. Those messages have been and will continue to be carried to the capitol through dedicated Association staff and a decades-long standing relationship with the team at Veridus.