South Dakota Community Bankers Unite to Defeat Government Mandate

February 17, 2022 (Watertown, SD) – This week, the Independent Community Bankers of South Dakota and its members successfully defeated Senate Bill 182 titled “Prohibit discriminatory actions against persons engaged with the firearm industry”. Sponsored by special interest groups outside of South Dakota, this bill would have mandated how banks operate their business. Specifically, it would have limited a bank’s ability to conduct business with the state if policies concerning banking firearm customers were in place. This mandate would have prevented a bank from making fair business and lending decisions to customers on financial factors. It would have also forced banks to work with a specific industry regardless of factors such as a customer’s credit history.

On Tuesday, the bill was defeated before the Senate Commerce and Energy Committee in a 6-2 vote and a failed “hoghouse” attempt of HB 1314.

“Bankers across South Dakota did what they do best this week in Pierre. Our bankers advocated for their customers and communities and helped educate our law makers on the downfalls of this legislation. We owe a debt of gratitude to our lobbyist team, Dean and Matt Krogman, as well as our industry partners- South Dakota Bankers Association, South Dakota Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce and Elevate Rapid City,” said Megan Olson, ICBSD President and CEO.

In a grassroots effort, the ICBSD called on bankers throughout the past two weeks and urged them to contact legislators, send emails and share their opposition to the legislation. The ICBSD will continue to monitor bills that advance through the 2022 South Dakota Legislative Session. For more information and to stay up to speed on what is happening in the legislative session, join the ICBSD weekly legislative update call from any location by dialing 866-678-6823 and using the code 9417984. The call takes place every Wednesday during the legislative session at 1:30 central.