ICBA supported bills slated for House committee markup today

ICBA urged the House Financial Services Committee to vote to advance several pro-community banks bills that the committee is scheduled to mark up today.

ICBA-Supported Bills: In a letter to the committee ahead of today’s 10 a.m. (Eastern time) markup, ICBA called on committee members to vote yes on:

• H.R. 3234—sponsored by Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.)—which would raise the percentage threshold of reciprocal deposits that may be held by a bank without being considered brokered deposits.

• H.R. 5262—the Bank Competition Modernization Act sponsored by Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis.)—which would provide that a banking agency may, at its discretion, choose to not request a Justice Department competitive analysis of a merger or acquisition application that would result in a bank with assets of less than $10 billion.

• H.R. 5276—the Community Bank LIFT Act sponsored by Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.)—which would lower the Community Bank Leverage Ratio from 8-10% to 6-8% to provide capital relief to community banks. The bill would also allow banks with up to $15 billion in assets to use the CBLR.

• H.R. 5291—the Merchant Banking Modernization Act sponsored by Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas)—which would amend the Bank Holding Company Act to provide that merchant banking investments made through an affiliate of a bank holding company may generally be held for a period of not less than 15 years.

• H.R. 5317—the Community Bank Deposit Access Act of 2025 sponsored by Chairman French Hill (R-Ark.)—which would allow custodial deposits to be held by community banks without being considered brokered deposits, provided the custodial deposits do not exceed 20% of the banks’ total liabilities.

Outlook: If the committee votes to pass the bills out of the committee, they would next need to be considered by the full House of Representatives.

ICBA Advocacy: The congressional regulatory relief efforts are in line with ICBA’s “Repair, Reform, and Thrive” plan and open letter to the 119th Congress.

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