Florida Banking May 2024

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

THE 2024 SESSION IS FINISHED, WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

BY ANTHONY DIMARCO, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

T he 2024 Session has ended and we are already looking ahead to the rest of the year and the 2025 Session. Before you know it, the August primary and the November general election will be behind us, and we will sprint into the 2025 Session. We are beginning the next FBA political cycle, that is, elections, grassroots, and the 2025 Session. Elections Election year is upon us again. In Congress, all House members and Sen. Rick Scott will be on the ballot. For the Florida Legislature, all 120 House members and 20 Senators are up for election. Term limits will claim eight Senators and 15 House members who cannot run for reelection. As Senate seats open due to term limits, House members will jump races and seek the Senate seats. It is shaping up to be a busy election year. To help us prepare, we take part in candidate interviews through the Florida Chamber Political Institute. Taking part in the Chamber’s activities lets us see and hear candidates for state office. We expect to be all around Florida meeting with candidates and incumbents. Please let us know what candidates you wish for the FBA to support. We are always looking for input from our members. You see these candidates in your local clubs, churches, and in business settings. While we cannot always support a member-recommended candidate, it goes a long way to help us make the decision in the next election. As always, we will send you information on which candidates BankPac supported. We will also send you information on the constitutional amendments that will be on the November ballot. Grassroots We will be going to cities across Florida setting up small lunches with legislators and 1-12 of our members. This will give you great facetime to discuss banking legislation and your community. We encourage you to attend if we are in your area. We also want to show legislators why all banks, but especially community banks, are important to Florida.

To that end, we are developing a “bring your legislator to your bank” package to help you host these events. Both of these are important because you need to know your legislators before you ask them for help. I have witnessed firsthand how a legislator positively responds when a banker they know asks them for help during Session. So please get to know them now. Furthermore, it's important that elected officials truly understand how their bills affect banks or impact their local communities. It is incumbent that we show them through grassroots events. 2025 Session In the meantime, the FBA is putting together our legislative agenda for the 2025 Session and we need your help. Please send us any ideas for fixing any state regulatory burden you are facing. Also, please let us know what legislation can be passed to help your financial institution succeed. We get our best legislative ideas from our members. Please take the time to send them to us. Legislation that we are exploring for the 2025 Session is to curtail fraud against our members and their customers. We have heard from several legislators and members about the uptick in fraudulent activity. We want to follow up this Session’s SB 556 on financial exploitation of vulnerable adults with additional anti fraud legislation. Last Session, a bad bill to stop wire fraud was filed; unfortunately, the cure would have only hurt our members so we worked to keep it from passing. But we expect more anti-fraud legislation in the 2025 Session, so it is incumbent on us to fix the problem through our own bill, before it is fixed for us. We are also looking at other criminal statutes that may impact our members or their customers. We will need time to work with law enforcement on these issues prior to Session, so the sooner the better. Finally, as always, please contact Kenneth, Gina or me for any questions on any state law or regulation. We will be glad to help.

12 — FLORIDA BANKING THE VOICE OF FLORIDA BANKING