Florida Banking May 2022

Bills We Opposed: Credit Unions/Public Deposits – FAILED TO PASS Unfortunately, HB 1559 passed the House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee by an 11-5 vote. Thank you to all who answered the Call to Action. Also, thank you to Kim Davis of Capital City Bank Group, Sammie Dixon of Prime Meridian Bank, and Don May of Tallahassee National Bank for testifying at the committee meeting. The bill had two more committee stops in the House, while SB 1318 was not heard in the Senate. PACE/REEF – FAILED TO PASS Bills were filed to change the program to REEF (Resiliency Energy Environment Florida Program). The Senate bill expanded the program to commercial and government leased properties with some additional consumer protection statutes for PACE loans. The House bill had only the stricter consumer protections. Thank you to Senator Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg) for filing an amendment on our behalf to require lender/ servicer approval before any PACE loan with lien priority could be attached to the property. This was in response to the PACE lenders’ assertion that we should welcome PACE loans because they increase property values. As expected, they objected to the amendment. Bills We Followed that Were of Interest to Our Members: Individual Freedom – PASSED Legislation passed expanding the Florida Civil Rights Act to provide that subjecting a person, as a condition of employment, membership, certification, licensing, credentialing, or passing an examination, to training, instruction, or any other required activity that espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels such individual to believe certain concepts constitutes discrimination based on race, color, sex, or national origin under the Act. The bills clarify that discussion of these concepts is allowed as part of a course of training or instruction, provided such training or instruction is given in an objective manner without endorsement of the concepts. There is also a public-school component to the bill. Trustee Resignation/SLATS Tweak – PASSED SB 1502 by Sen. Powell provides authorization for trustees to resign as dictated in the trust document with appropriate notice provided; removes the need for a

creditor to file a separate action against a debtor and instead substitutes the personal representative; removes unintended tax consequence regarding Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts to prevent reversion of funds when the testator spouse predeceases donor spouse. Trust Accounting Changes for Family Trusts – PASSED SB 1368 by Sen. Gruters provides for trust accounting changes in how family trust companies advise beneficiaries of trust accountings. The bill also increases the Rule Against Perpetuities from 90 to 1,000 years. Public Records Exemption for Family Trusts – PASSED SB 1304 by Sen. Gruters provides that proceedings involving family trusts are redacted from public disclosure. We could see Special Sessions on congressional districts, should the Governor veto the bill, or on property insurance, if the dire predictions of insurance company failures are true. Finally, the Legislature failed to pass a condominium inspection bill. Could that be in a Special Session as well? We will be sending a more detailed look into these bills and many more, such as condominiums and property insurance, in our annual End of Session Report. Finally, we want to thank the bank lobbying team. Thank you to our attorneys at Akerman Law Firm: Our General Counsel Ginny Childs, Betsy Hodge, and James Goldsmith. Thanks also to Fab Brumley, Bank of America; Tom Pennekamp, Truist; Rick Mahler, JPMorgan Chase; Kelly Beazley, Bank of America; Aprill Blanco, Wells Fargo; Lisette Carbajal, Capital One; Diane Carr, Johnson & Blanton; Matt Curtis, SmartBank; Mike Dameron, TD Bank; Jim Daughton, Metz, Husband & Daughton; Dan Donohoe, Comerica Bank; Jason Isbell, Regions Financial; Nita Kuhner, Hancock Whitney; Tom Lamb, PNC Bank; Jim Nikolai, Synchrony Financial; Sean Stafford, McGuireWoods Consulting; Tom Ruebel, U.S. Bank; Joan Saenz, Fifth Third Bank; Clark Smith & Monte Stevens, The Southern Group; Erin Smith, TD Bank; Tim Sweeney & Jesse Villarreal, Banco Santander; and Alan West, Citibank, N.A.

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