{"id":2485,"date":"2021-04-16T15:59:51","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T15:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/albanknews.com\/?p=2485"},"modified":"2021-04-16T15:59:51","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T15:59:51","slug":"capitol-notes-week-11-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/albanknews.com\/?p=2485","title":{"rendered":"Capitol Notes: Week 11 Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"

MONTGOMERY, Ala., April 16, 2021<\/strong> — The Legislature met for two legislative days this week and have now completed 23 legislative days since the start of the 2021 Regular Session on February 2.\u00a0 Representatives and Senators dealt with a variety of hot topics this week, including legislation related to transgender students, gaming, medical marijuana, expungement of criminal records, and the Second Amendment.\u00a0 And there was at least one moment of levity this week involving, of all things, a vegetable, as legislation naming the Sweet Potato as the state\u2019s official vegetable was passed on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

On the banking front, with seven days remaining, three bills important to the association are all in a position to cross the finish line before the session concludes.<\/p>\n

First, Senate Bill 275 <\/strong>by Sen. Sam Givhan (R-Huntsville)<\/strong> would authorize a notarization process known as \u201cremote ink notarization.\u201d\u00a0 Originally introduced to Alabama last year in an Executive Order, this process allows a notary to attest to a signature that was witnessed using a videoconferencing platform.\u00a0 The bill has passed the Senate as well as House committee and is in position to be voted on by the full House.\u00a0 Rep. Andy Whitt (R-Huntsville)<\/strong> is managing the bill on the House side, and the bill is scheduled to be considered by the House on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Second, Senate Bill 279 <\/strong>by Sen. Dan Roberts (R-Mountain Brook)<\/strong> would provide for how contracts tied to LIBOR would be governed after LIBOR is no longer published.\u00a0 Modeled after similar legislation that recently passed the New York Legislature, this bill was substituted and reported by the House Financial Services Committee this week.\u00a0 The substitute version of the bill is an exact replica of the legislation recently passed and signed into law in New York.\u00a0 Rep. Danny Garrett (R-Trussville)<\/strong> is managing the bill on the House side, and the bill is scheduled to be considered by the House on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Finally, House Bill 474 <\/strong>by Rep. Merika Coleman (D-Birmingham) <\/strong>would give Trustees a third option to use when seeking to be released from their service to a Trust.\u00a0 Both the House bill and the Senate bill, Senate Bill 282 <\/strong>by Sen. Shay Shelnutt (R-Trussville) <\/strong>are moving at the same time and each bill passed out of a House and Senate committee this week.\u00a0 Both bills are one floor vote away from the Governor\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n

Bills of importance to the banking industry include the following:<\/p>\n

HB147 <\/strong>by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Chris Blackshear (R-Phenix City) <\/strong>and SB181 <\/strong>by Senate Banking and Insurance Committee Chairman Shay Shelnutt (R-Trussville) <\/strong>is the Elderly and Vulnerable Adult Financial Protection Act of 2021.\u00a0 These bills give financial institutions full discretion to refuse or delay a financial transaction whenever financial abuse of an elderly or vulnerable adult customer is reasonably expected. \u00a0Introduced last year, these bills garnered unanimous support in both chambers, but were unable to pass into law after the session abruptly ended because of COVID-19.\u00a0 Senate Bill 181 was signed into law on March 9.\u00a0 It is now Act 2021-78. <\/strong><\/p>\n

HB196 <\/strong>by Rep. Matt Simpson (R-Daphne) <\/strong>and SB35 <\/strong>by Sen. Greg Albritton (R-Atmore) <\/strong>makes technical changes to the Alabama Uniform Trust Decanting Act, a law passed in 2019 that provides a method for reforming or modernizing an irrevocable trust.\u00a0 Both bills have been passed by the House Financial Services Committee, putting the Senate bill one vote away from the Governor\u2019s desk.\u00a0 Senate Bill 35 was signed into law on March 16.\u00a0 It is now Act 2021-143.<\/strong><\/p>\n

HB216<\/strong> by Rep. Craig Lipscomb (R-Gadsden) <\/strong>is the Alabama Consumer Privacy Act, a law giving consumers various rights related to the collection of personal information by businesses.\u00a0 Modeled after a California law, the legislation imposes onerous burdens on businesses of all types, including financial institutions.\u00a0 The association had a meeting with the sponsor earlier this week outlining concerns about the bill, and the sponsor assured us that he did not plan to pursue the legislation.<\/p>\n

HB293 <\/strong>by Rep. David Faulkner (R-Mountain Brook) <\/strong>is the Qualified Dispositions in Trust Act, which would authorize the creation of self-settled trusts in Alabama.\u00a0 Drafted by the Alabama Law Institute, this bill could theoretically expand opportunities for financial institutions providing trust-related services.\u00a0 On the other hand, this bill could provide debtors with an additional option of shielding assets from creditors.\u00a0 The bill was passed by the full Senate on Tuesday and now awaits Governor Ivey\u2019s signature or veto.<\/strong><\/p>\n

HB457 <\/strong>by Rep. Chris Pringle (R-Mobile) <\/strong>expands the Alabama Residential Mortgage Satisfaction Act to include mortgages securing commercial agricultural properties.\u00a0 This is the second year Pringle has introduced this legislation.\u00a0 The bill defines \u201ccommercial agricultural properties\u201d as property located in this state that is used primarily for the growing of plants, trees, or animals primarily for a for-profit business and not for recreational purposes.\u00a0 The bill has passed out of the Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee and is now in a position to be considered by the full Senate.<\/strong><\/p>\n

HB470 <\/strong>by Rep. Andy Whitt (R-Harvest) <\/strong>and SB275 <\/strong>by Sen. Sam Givhan (R-Huntsville) <\/strong>would allow documents to be remotely notarized under certain conditions.\u00a0 Drafted by a coalition of trade groups including the association, the Alabama Association of Realtors, and the Alabama Land Title Association, this bill codifies the \u201cRemote Ink Notarization\u201d provisions of Gov. Ivey\u2019s Emergency Executive Orders.\u00a0 In short, it sets up guidelines that would allow a notary public to witness the signature of a document using videoconferencing platforms.\u00a0 The Senate bill was approved by a House committee and will be considered by the full House on Tuesday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

HB474 <\/strong>by Rep. Merika Coleman (D-Birmingham) <\/strong>and SB282 <\/strong>by Sen. Shay Shelnutt (R-Trussville) <\/strong>would amend the Uniform Trust Code to create a third option for a Trustee to use when seeking to be released from his or her service to a Trust.\u00a0 Under this option, release would be granted if no beneficiary or interested party objected to the release in writing within 45 days of receiving a notice of the release and an accounting of the Trust from the previous two years.\u00a0 Both bills have been approved by House and Senate committees and are one floor vote away from Governor Ivey\u2019s desk.<\/strong><\/p>\n

HB475 <\/strong>by Rep. Danny Garrett (R-Trussville)<\/strong> and SB279 <\/strong>by Sen. Dan Roberts (R-Mountain Brook) <\/strong>provides for how certain financial contracts would be governed after the publication of LIBOR is discontinued later this year.\u00a0 The Senate bill was approved this week by the House Financial Services Committee and will be considered by the full House on Tuesday.\u00a0 If passed, the Senate would have to concur in the House changes, after which the bill would go to the Governor.<\/strong><\/p>\n

HB603 <\/strong>by Rep. Joe Lovvorn (R-Auburn) <\/strong>and SB366 <\/strong>by Sen. Tom Whatley (R-Auburn) <\/strong>makes significant changes to laws related to guardianships and conservatorships.\u00a0 The Senate bill was recently substituted and approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and is now in a position to be considered by the full Senate.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

SB316 <\/strong>by Sen. Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) <\/strong>would prohibit payment processing from charging an interchange fee on any portion of a payment transfer that was attributed to state or local taxes or fees.\u00a0 Legislation of this type has been introduced in multiple states around the country.\u00a0 The consequences of this bill becoming law could have negative implications on the banking and retail industries<\/p>\n

SB352 <\/strong>by Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) <\/strong>revises the 2021 payment date for financial institutions excise taxes and income taxes to coincide with the revised due dates for the corresponding federal payments.\u00a0 This bill passed the House on Tuesday and was signed into law by Governor Ivey the same day.\u00a0 It is now Act 2021-203<\/strong><\/p>\n

SB379 <\/strong>by Sen. Dan Roberts (R-Mountain Brook) <\/strong>among other things, provides for a one-month<\/p>\n

extension of the due date of tax returns for financial institutions in tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2021, in order to provide taxpayers with additional time to calculate their tax liabilities under new federal and state tax law, without incurring a late filing penalty. The filing extension would not extend the due date of the tax liability by these taxpayers. This bill would also authorize the Department of Revenue, in its discretion, to extend the due date of tax returns for Alabama financial institutions by one month in tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, but before January 1, 2021.\u00a0 This bill was approved by the Senate Finance and Taxation-Education Committee on Tuesday and is now in a position to be considered by the full Senate.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Through 23 of a possible 30 legislative days, Representatives and Senators have introduced 1,027 bills – 633 in the House and 394 in the Senate \u2013 and 312 resolutions.\u00a0 As of this writing, 219 have been enacted into law.<\/p>\n

The session must end on or before Monday, May 17.\u00a0 Legislators will return to Montgomery on Tuesday, April 20, for the 24th legislative day.\u00a0 The schedule for the rest of the session calls for two legislative days per week for the next three weeks, followed by a one-week break, followed by the 30th and final day of the session on May 17.<\/p>\n

\n

Look for this update to be published each week during the regular legislative session and at other times as necessary.\u00a0 This update is written by Jason Isbell, an attorney in the Governmental Solutions practice group at Maynard Cooper & Gale.\u00a0 Along with his colleagues at the firm, Jason is a governmental affairs consultant for the association.\u00a0 Jason can be reached at <\/em>jisbell@maynardcooper.com<\/em><\/a> or at (334) 782-1219.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MONTGOMERY, Ala., April 16, 2021 — The Legislature met for two legislative days this week and have now completed 23 legislative days since the start of the 2021 Regular Session on February 2.\u00a0 Representatives and Senators dealt with a variety of hot topics this week, including legislation related to transgender students, gaming, medical marijuana, expungement of criminal records, and the Second Amendment.\u00a0 And there was at least one moment of levity this week involving, of all things, a vegetable, as legislation naming the Sweet Potato as the state\u2019s official vegetable was passed on Tuesday night. On the banking front, with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[19,26,28,3,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking","category-capitol-notes","category-legal","category-politics","category-publications","has_thumb"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/albanknews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/capitol_graphic-e1461688373563.png?fit=350%2C383&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Y3P2-E5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/albanknews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/albanknews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/albanknews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albanknews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albanknews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2485"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/albanknews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2487,"href":"https:\/\/albanknews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485\/revisions\/2487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albanknews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/albanknews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albanknews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albanknews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}