Brief(1)
S.B. 120, as amended, amends the special order or so-called "wildcard" power of the State Bank Commissioner to authorize state chartered banks to engage in activities they would be able to engage in if they were chartered as national banks. The bill requires the Bank Commissioner to give written notice at the time the power is used and a special order issued, not only to the leadership of the Legislature, but to the chairpersons and ranking minority members of the Senate and House committees dealing with financial institutions.
Additionally, the Commissioner, within two weeks of the beginning of a legislative session, must submit to the chairpersons of the Senate and House committees dealing with financial institutions, a written summary of each special order issued in the preceding year. If requested, the Commissioner is to appear before the committees to discuss any special order issued.
Finally, the chairpersons or ranking minority members of the committees may request assistance from the Division of the Budget in determining the economic impact of any special order.
As amended by the Senate Committee, the Governor would be added to the list of persons to whom written notice of issuance of a special order would be given.
Background
S.B. 120 was introduced to address issues which arose during the 1998 Legislative Session concerning notice of a special order which had a significant impact on the collection of the privilege tax paid by financial institutions. The bill requires a written report on each special order at the time of issuance, as well as a broader dissemination of the order. The report and its wider dissemination provide a greater opportunity to understand the order and its possible impact on the regulated entities and others who might be affected by it.
The bill was supported by the Acting Bank Commissioner and the Kansas Bankers Association.
The Bank Commissioner indicates the additional reports that would result from passage of the bill could be absorbed within the agency's existing staff and operating expenditures.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html.