Pub. 11 2014 Issue 4

O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S - H E L P I N G N E W M E X I C O R E A L I Z E D R E A M S 4 “ I personally gained a much greater appreciation for the time and effort it takes to be an effective legislator. ” PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE ALAN AUSTIN NMBA PRESIDENT New Mexico Bank and Trust, Santa Fe J ohn Anderson and I recently completed a road trip around New Mexico. We visited Clovis, Roswell, Alamogordo, Hobbs, Las Cruces, Farmington, Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Thanks to our members and legislators from those cities and from nearby communities that attended lunches and dinners. Our purpose was to visit with bankers and legislators before the legislative session begins in January to get a sense of issues on theminds of legislators and to share NMBA’s perspective on the issues that affect our industry. We discussed the impact of the 600 plus regulations that were the result of enactment of Dodd-Frank in 2010. While a portion of those regulations are not yet in place, the cost of compliance with new regulations already in place is weighing heavily on banks, particularly community banks. Compliance costs are rising at the same time that interest margins are un- der increasing pressure, driven by slack loan demand and lower interest rates for loans and other assets banks may own. John and I want- ed to be sure our legislators were aware of and understood the magnitude of the challenges we face as they contemplate any new regulation on banks during the upcoming session. There was considerable discussion about economic development at each meeting. It was very evident that each New Mexico community has distinct challenges and opportunities in eco- nomic development, but as a state it is important to coordinate our efforts optimize results. Our legislators are in tune to the need to offset the decrease in federal government spending and employment in Mew Mexico with growth in other areas of our economy. Each legislator had ideas to share about ways to encourage that growth. I personally gained a much greater appre- ciation for the time and effort it takes to be an effective legislator. The amount of information dispensed and the number of meetings that occur between sessions are significant. We need to say thank you more often to our legislators for their service. Our friends in the legislature need our help in a couple of ways. First, we need to commu- nicate with them on issues so they know what we think and why. Second, through NewMexico Bank PAC, we need to support candidates that understand banking and are supportive of our industry. Every member in the state House of Representatives is up for election in 2014. Road Trip Helps Gain Insight of Legislative Issues