Senator Lankford Votes For Regulatory Relief for Oklahoma Small Banks

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) released the following statement after voting for Dodd-Frank reform legislation, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155), which will reduce federal regulations for small community banks and credit unions: 

“Oklahoma community banks and credit unions have struggled under the burden of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act that created heavy regulatory demands intended for the larger banks that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis. Unfortunately, Congress and the Obama Administration drastically overreached when they attempted to reform the system in 2010.  Community and regional banks did not cause the financial crisis of 2008, but they received hundreds of new rules and thousands of new mandates. New regulations pushed more than 40 percent of the banks in Oklahoma out of home mortgage lending, which severely limited options for many people in rural Oklahoma. Many small businesses have struggled to qualify for loans in Oklahoma because the new rules limited when community banks could lend. Local community banks and credit unions should be able to take care of their neighbors, like they have for generations. Positive economic growth has already started because of last year’s tax reform; this Dodd-Frank reform bill will help spur our small business and local economy even more.”

In a floor speech last week, Senator Lankford talked about specific Oklahoma examples of how this Dodd-Frank reform will help the local economy. Lankford shared stories from Allen, Elk City, and Altus, Oklahoma.

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