Florida Banking August/September 2025

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

FROM THE COMMUNITY TO THE CAPITOL: WHY YOUR STORY COUNTS

BY ANTHONY DIMARCO FBA EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

P assing good bills and stopping the bad ones is a full-time job – and it requires that elected officials hear from our industry. Unfortunately, many legislators don’t know their local bankers. We need you to help our industry improve on telling “our story” to our elected officials. Our industry must also do a better job getting to know our elected officials before they vote in Tallahassee and D.C. Much of our success in years past was tied to a legislator telling us they knew their local banker, who said they were for or against an idea. It doesn’t matter whether you work in a small or a large bank. Legislators want to get to know and learn from their constituents. They want to better understand how banks work and what they do to improve their constituents’ lives.

The FBA organizes events, large and small, to connect regulators and lawmakers with our members to help them understand the issues that are of the utmost concern. However, effective advocacy requires year-round relationship building – not just responding during legislative session. We encourage you to: • Share your personal and community impact stories with legislators • Invite elected officials to your bank to meet staff and learn how banks support the community • Educate officials about the differences between banks and credit unions • Attend FBA events like luncheons, leadership dinners, Capitol Day and the D.C. Fly-In • Support campaigns and respond to FBA’s Calls to Action • Engage board members in advocacy efforts to offer non-banker perspectives The FBA is developing a pilot program with a tool kit for you to host elected officials at your bank. You can give them a tour, introduce them to your staff, and tell them about your work in the community and how it impacts your customers/their constituents. Another way to develop relationships is to commit time and treasure to political campaigns. I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve heard that a local banker was one of the first supporters in an election, and the legislator had never forgotten the help. Remember, even legislators who may not always vote with us must hear from local bankers, or they’ll never vote with us. Your FBA works continuously to represent the banking industry in Washington, D.C., and in Tallahassee, but we need support from local bankers to strengthen our efforts. Nothing is as powerful as a local banker telling his or her story of work in the community – and how we make dreams come true.

12 — FLORIDA BANKING THE VOICE OF FLORIDA BANKING