Weekly Update

Greetings from Guy By Guy Sims OBA Chairman Another busy week on the political scene. The Oklahoma legislature began a special session Monday to address the budget shortfall. The Republican leadership is pushing for a cigarette tax while the Democrats are looking to increase the gross production tax on energy production. Neither proposal appears to have the support to pass …

Greetings from Guy By Guy Sims OBA Chairman This week we begin our Bankers’ Night Out series with events scheduled for Lawton and Woodward. The last two days have brought beneficial and timely rains, which always brings a smile to those of us with ties to that part of the state. I look forward to seeing the bankers in western …

Greetings from Guy By Guy Sims OBA Chairman Another interesting week in Washington politics. President Trump’s decision to negotiate a deal on the debt ceiling with leaders of the Democratic Party may be an indication of things to come. I get the feeling the president is looking for legislative wins and doesn’t care which political party delivers the win.  Like …

Greetings from Guy By Guy Sims OBA Chairman I hope everyone had a great three-day weekend. My family started the weekend early attending the OSU game on Thursday evening. The weather and atmosphere was perfect for the home opener. Congratulations to both OSU and OU on great starts to the college football season.  It doesn’t seem appropriate to be espousing …

Greetings from Guy By Guy Sims OBA Chairman From a banking standpoint, things are quiet in Washington – not only because of the August recess but also because the banking agenda is far down the list of priorities for the administration and Congress at this point.  Somehow, we need to come up with a strategy to get our issues back …

Greetings from Guy By Guy Sims OBA Chairman At the convention this spring, I was optimistic the community banking industry would be on offense by this point pushing for common-sense regulatory reform in Washington D.C.  As it stands today, we’re not even on the field with our issues.   The congressional calendar is full for the foreseeable future. Raising the …

Greetings from Guy By Guy Sims OBA Chairman Editor’s Note: Guy is out of town this week and will be back with his chairman update next week. In the meantime, however, enjoy a couple of photos he shared from his motorcycle trip to Sturgis during the past week! Back to top   Operation Choke Point: to be or not to …

Greetings from Guy By Guy Sims OBA Chairman The White House was relatively quiet this past week: No berating the administration’s own attorney general, no red meat political speech to the Boy Scouts of America, relatively few early morning tweets and no major staff shake-ups. I would call this a calm week by President Trumps standards.  I have to think the …

Greetings from Guy By Guy Sims OBA Chairman I spent last week attending the ABA’s Summer Leadership Meeting in Boston. The meeting provided a great opportunity to network with other bankers from across the country as well as gain additional insight into what is going on in Washington, D.C.  On the regulatory reform front, it appears work is going on …