State Legislative Priorities

If you would like to follow some of the most important bills that IBAT is tracking during this legislative session, click here for an up-to-date report.

The IBAT Legislative Committee met earlier this summer to discuss and approve IBAT's pro-active agenda for the 2009 legislative session.  Additionally, we anticipate a number of potentially damaging legislative initiatives addressing issues created by the subprime mortgage crisis.

Resolved, that the Independent Bankers Association of Texas promote the following:

1. Appropriate amendments to the Texas Residential Construction Act to (a) clarify that failure by a contractor to provide certain notices shall not invalidate a third party lien and (b) to clearly exclude the guarantor or comaker of a construction loan from the definition of “builder.”
2. Amendments to the Probate Code to (a) authorize the use of a “convenience signer” on any type of account and (b) to provide a method whereby a principal may grant an attorney in fact the authority to establish joint accounts with of survivorship and to designate POD beneficiaries.
3. Clarification of the penal statutes applicable to mortgage fraud to assure that third parties, such as appraisers, are subject to criminal sanctions for fraudulent behavior in convention with a residential mortgage loan.
4. A package of proposals to (a) require merchants to act responsibly in accepting debit cards and to cooperate in prosecution of debit card fraud and (b) provide incentives for prosecutors to pursue debit card fraud.
5. The restructuring of the Finance Commission to separate regulation of federally insured institutions, including banks, savings banks, and credit unions, through an Insured Depository Commission and regulation of other non-bank financial institutions through the Finance Commission.
6. If regulatory action is inadequate, appropriate amendments to the Insurance Code relating to title insurance to assure adequate coverage of damages resulting from split ownership of minerals.

Resolved further, that IBAT support the following:

7. An amendment to the Finance Code to correct a glitch in the usury provisions.
   
8. Amendments to the Texas Constitution that would (a) permit a cash-out refinancing of a purchase money loan to be excluded from the home equity section and (b) eliminate the prohibition of granting a home equity loan on property designated as agricultural use valuation land.
   
9. Amendments to the Business & Commerce Code to require merchants to handle sensitive customer information responsibly and in accordance with industry standards whether such customer information is derived from debit or credit cards or from truncated checks.

If you wish to discuss any of these issues or have additional thoughts on our legislative agenda, please contact Steve Scurlock - (800.749.4228) or e-mail sscurlock@ibat.org.