J. Hill

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material for this bill.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the CBO estimate for this bill. Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives announces bills that will be considered under suspension of the rules in that chamber. Under suspension, floor debate is limited, all floor amendments are prohibited, points of order against the bill are waived, and final passage requires a two-thirds majority vote. At the request of the Majority Leader and the House Committee on the Budget, CBO estimates the effects of those bills on direct spending and revenues. CBO has limited time to review the legislation before consideration. Although it is possible in most cases to determine whether the legislation would affect direct spending or revenues, time may be insufficient to estimate the magnitude of those effects. If CBO has prepared estimates for similar or identical legislation, a more detailed assessment of budgetary effects, including effects on spending subject to appropriation, may be included.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3234, the Keeping Deposits Local Act, and I thank my longtime friend and our majority whip, Tom Emmer of Minnesota, and Congresswoman Joyce Beatty for their tremendous bipartisan leadership on this particular matter. I also thank the ranking member of our full committee, the House Financial Services Committee, for her continued willingness to work across the aisle on cornerstone reforms that benefit our Nation's community banks. Community banks are one of the most important economic drivers behind Main Street. They deserve a regulatory framework that encourages them to compete, grow, and better serve their customers. Reciprocal deposits are a proven tool that helps banks attract, retain, and diversify their funding sources while simultaneously giving depositors greater FDIC insurance coverage. As a former community bank CEO, I personally used this service to help provide better service for important customers. Right now, overly burdensome broker deposit regulations are standing in the way. Community banks, many of which operate with a limited branch network, are being penalized for using a funding tool that poses no meaningful risk to financial stability. Majority Whip Emmer and Congresswoman Beatty's bill addresses this issue. It allows community banks to accept a greater volume of reciprocal deposits before triggering the overly stringent broker deposit rules. This, in turn, frees up more capital to make loans in the communities they serve. Additionally, as a bank's size increases, the threshold for reciprocal deposits that it may accept decreases, ensuring that oversight scales with risk. The bill also directs the FDIC to study reciprocal deposits and report back to Congress, ensuring that we have the data to inform direction on deposit insurance policy. This is the kind of smart, targeted reform that has been at the heart of my efforts to make community banking great again in our legislative agenda in this 119th Congress. I am proud to support this bill by Mr. Emmer, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize the author of this important bill from the Republican side that helps our community banks better serve their customers through a diverse approach to deposit insurance. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Emmer), who is the majority whip of the Republican-led House.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I thank, again, Whip Emmer and Mrs. Beatty for their tireless work on this. It has taken a lot of years of collaboration between both parties on both sides of the aisle to find a path to move this bill forward, and we couldn't have done it without the hard work of the gentleman from Minnesota and the gentlewoman from Ohio. I am grateful for their work. I recommend everybody on both sides of the aisle support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4544) to direct certain Federal banking and credit union agencies to promote the formation of de novo regulated institutions through the review of application processes, the review of capital raising by de novo regulated institutions, and the establishment of various outreach programs, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the CBO estimate for this bill. Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives announces bills that will be considered under suspension of the rules in that chamber. Under suspension, floor debate is limited, all floor amendments are prohibited, points of order against the bill are waived, and final passage requires a two-thirds majority vote. At the request of the Majority Leader and the House Committee on the Budget, CBO estimates the effects of those bills on direct spending and revenues. CBO has limited time to review the legislation before consideration. Although it is possible in most cases to determine whether the legislation would affect direct spending or revenues, time may be insufficient to estimate the magnitude of those effects. If CBO has prepared estimates for similar or identical legislation, a more detailed assessment of budgetary effects, including effects on spending subject to appropriation, may be included.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the ranking member's bill, H.R. 4544, the American Access to Banking Act. I thank Ms. Waters for her diligent work on this important bipartisan legislation. Over the past decade, Mr. Speaker, the United States has lost nearly 2,000 community banks, while only 62 de novo banks have opened during that same period. These essential institutions have disappeared from Main Streets across America due to mergers, acquisitions, and bank failures. In one out of every three counties in our country, a community bank is the only on-the-ground banking option--one out of every three counties. That is why it is important to consider this bill. Mr. Speaker, I was the CEO of a community bank in the Mississippi Delta where there were very few banking offices available for small businesses and agricultural communities spread out across the rural heartland. I have to say it is very troubling when a local farmer tries to finance his equipment or where a small business owner wants to expand their restaurant or get their first loan to start a business if there is not a community bank. That is where families go to build relationships with lenders who know their names, understand their communities, and recognize their circumstances. Why aren't new banks forming? It is because we have made it extraordinarily difficult to start one. The application process is often complex, duplicative, and overly burdensome. Some of the requirements aren't even in statute that are held out for that young business development team, those young officers who want to go out on their own to serve a community by creating a new depository institution. That is why I am pleased to support the ranking member of the full committee, Ms. Waters of California's, American Access to Banking Act. This bill directs the Federal bank regulators to make it easier to start a new bank or credit union by streamlining the application process, improving the capital-raising options, establishing mentorship programs, and strengthening coordination between Federal and State regulators. Banking is not a partisan issue, and every American deserves access to a financial institution that can meet their needs. This bill is very complementary of efforts made by our Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chair, Andy Barr of Kentucky, to try to remove barriers to improving the ability to start a bank in this country. Mr. Speaker, I am a proud supporter of this bipartisan legislation. I thank the ranking member for her leadership on it. I encourage my colleagues to support it, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I, again, thank the gentlewoman for her work on this bill. Over this Congress, we have had some really inspirational people come and testify. In fact, all three that I am picturing in my mind are women and all three came to the committee to talk about the burdens of trying to start a new bank or build a small community bank. I remember BankMiami was a case, and there have been quite a number of start-up banks in south Florida that are Minority Depository Institutions. We had inspirational speakers in our committee, and they said we need to do better here on this. This is at the heart of what the ranking member is talking about. How can we improve this process so that more people can take that decision, if their market and the characteristics of their economics and their geography would be rewarded by new bank startups? Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for her leadership. I invite her to close, and I urge all of our colleagues to support her effort. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the ranking member for her work on this bill. I urge all my colleagues to support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5317) to amend the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to ensure that certain custodial deposits of well capitalized insured depository institutions are not considered to be funds obtained by or through deposit brokers, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this bill.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the Congressional Budget Office estimate for the bill.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I will speak in support of H.R. 5317, the Community Bank Deposit Access Act. This is a bill that over my time in Congress I have introduced several times and worked with colleagues to extend the ability to attract deposits to local community banks to make them more competitive. This bill works to essentially give community banks greater flexibility to access stable and reliable funding sources so that they can continue to meet the financial needs of the communities they serve. Community banks, as we have talked about today, play a vital role in our local economies by supporting small businesses, farmers, and consumers who depend on them for access to credit and other essential financial services. That is why it is important that our community institutions have access to a diverse and dependable set of funding sources so that they can continue to meet these demands. One source of funding comes through custodial deposits, which are the funds placed at a bank by a third party on behalf of underlying customers or beneficiaries who own the funds but may not have a direct banking relationship with that institution. Mr. Speaker, a few minutes ago, we talked about reciprocal deposits. Let's say I am a small business, and I have $500,000 as a typical average collected balance in my business, but I only have deposit insurance of $250,000. The reciprocal deposit bill that Mrs. Beatty offered a few minutes ago with Tom Emmer of Minnesota allows that other $250,000 for that small business to be covered for deposit insurance. That is very important and very useful to have that customer-bank service relationship. Custodial deposits are similar, but what if it is a much larger amount of money, a much bigger business? Custodial deposits allow banks to serve their customer that way with one statement by seeing the money spread across more banks. This is a cash management product that allows a local community bank to play a lead role in Treasury management for a larger commercial customer. Let's say, for example, a landlord might place tenant security deposits in a custodial account at a local bank, even though the tenants remain the ultimate owner of those funds and, hence, the ability to be benefited by that. These arrangements provide benefits to all of the parties involved. Banks gain access to stable, low-cost deposits, while customers and third parties benefit from the convenience of a more centralized account management function, along with the protections provided by deposit insurance. The FDIC has long recognized this deposit insurance process and how it can apply on a pass-through basis, meaning that underlying funds remain insured so long as each beneficiary's share stays within the applicable deposit insurance limit. My bill would expand access to these arrangements for banks under $10 billion in assets that maintain strong capital levels and sound supervisory ratings or otherwise receive a waiver from their primary bank regulator. Custodial deposits are a stable relationship-based funding source that allows a community bank to support small businesses, families, and local economies. These deposits can provide smaller institutions with access to depositors and funding relationships that might otherwise be out of reach and help diversify their funding base and improve their financial stability. Yet, under current law, many of these deposits are treated the same as if they were brokered deposits and subject to rules that were never intended for these type of relationship accounts. This outdated treatment creates unnecessary burdens for community banks and limits their ability to responsibly utilize custodial deposits to support lending in their communities. By clarifying that custodial deposits are not brokered deposits, if they do not exceed 20 percent of the total liabilities of the community bank, my bill gives lenders the certainty they need to accept these funds and put that money to work in their communities. This is a commonsense, bipartisan solution that strengthens community banks, supports local lending, and preserves the safety and soundness of the financial system without increasing the risk to our Deposit Insurance Fund. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close and reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, let me say I appreciate the gentlewoman's engagement on deposit insurance policy at large. I think it is an important topic. She and I both share the importance of reviewing our deposit insurance system, make sure it is competitive, make sure it encourages safe and sound banking, make sure it doesn't expand in any way the moral hazard associated with too much reliance on a government safety net in any way that might encourage too great risk-taking. She is right. We should do that in a data-dependent way and do that collectively, and we have had assistance in that regard from the FDIC and others. I am grateful for her cooperation on moving the reciprocal deposit bill earlier today, Mrs. Beatty and Mr. Emmer's bill, this custodial deposit effort. Both of these bills help our community banks be more competitive across the country as they try to grow their business in the face of a lot of competition. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her support. I urge a ``yes'' vote on both sides of the aisle, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1299) providing for the concurrence by the House in the Senate amendment to H.R. 6644, with amendment.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this resolution.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the Congressional Budget Office estimate for this bill. Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives announces bills that will be considered under suspension of the rules in that chamber. Under suspension, floor debate is limited, all floor amendments are prohibited. points of order against the bill are waived, and anal passage requires a two- thirds majority vote. At the request of the Majority Leader and the House Committee on the Budget, CBO estimates the effects of those bills on direct spending and revenues. CBO has limited time to review the legislation before consideration. Although it is possible in most cases to determine whether the legislation would affect direct spending or revenues, time may be insufficient to estimate the magnitude of those effects. If CBO has prepared estimates for similar or identical legislation, a more detailed assessment of budgetary effects, including effects on spending subject to appropriation, may be included.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the House amendment to the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. I share in President Trump's commitment to delivering a housing bill that puts American families first and expands access to American homeownership. Over the last couple of months, we have heard clear concerns from literally hundreds of bipartisan Members and stakeholders expressing concerns with some of the provisions that were contained in the Senate- passed version of the housing bill. For Ranking Member Waters and me, Ranking Member Cleaver and Chairman Flood on the Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, this has been years of work in the making and months of intensive work in this 119th Congress to find a path that improves accessibility to housing for the American people, and affordability for the American people, that could be a bicameral, bipartisan housing measure. This amendment that is before us today, which amends the good work of the Senate, is exactly that: hours and hours of listening to the American people across our cities, hours of testimony in our Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, led by the gentleman from Nebraska. We have that feedback. That feedback, Mr. Speaker, informs this amendment. It informs this debate. Ranking Member Waters and I have collaborated together today on several revisions that ensure that these reforms are narrowly tailored and do not, in any way, in some unintentional way, reduce housing supply, disrupt housing markets, or harm those in the rental community. The focus of the bill in the House and the Senate, and the focus of our work today in the amendment, is to continue to cut unnecessary barriers to new home construction, modernize HUD programs, and allow our community banks to more freely deploy funding into their communities that aid in the development of new housing products, whether it is single-family housing or housing for rent. This bill has a provision in it that also meets the request of President Trump, which he outlined in this room in his State of the Union Address, that we limit institutional investors from competing with Moms and Dads and Americans out there trying to buy a house. It removes some of the legal challenges that we felt were in the structure of the Senate's approach. Ultimately, in my view, and I believe the view of Chairman Flood, Ranking Member Cleaver, and Ranking Member Waters, this delivers on that goal of not having a young family buying their first home, being informed by their Realtor that somehow they missed that opportunity because the house was bought out from under them by some big-shot institutional investor. That is what President Trump talked about here in this House Chamber at the State of the Union Address. I believe, Mr. Speaker, that the changes that we made in a collaborative, bipartisan way deliver on the President's goal and, in fact, help this bill. Additionally, this bill modernizes outdated banking regulations so that community banks can focus on doing what they do best: lending and providing loans to families who are looking to buy a home and companies looking to finance construction. Together, these changes strengthen our joint, bicameral focus on expanding housing access and affordability without discouraging investment in new housing development. The amendment we are voting on advances practical, bipartisan solutions to modernizing the Federal housing programs, reducing regulatory burdens, streamlining the development process, and building more homes to meet growing demand. Congress has a responsibility to pursue reforms that expand opportunity and keep this great American Dream within reach. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member. I thank Mr. Flood and Mr. Cleaver for their tireless effort over the last year and a half, and I am proud to support this effort. I urge my colleagues to do the same. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.