H-1665              _______________________________________________

                                            HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 22

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Representatives Lux, Winsley, P. King and Addison

Read first time 2/8/85 and referred to Committee on Financial Institutions & Insurance.

TO THE HONORABLE RONALD REAGAN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:

          We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

          WHEREAS, Banks are chartered for the safety and convenience of the public; and

          WHEREAS, Banks provide the foundation for a healthy and robust economy; and

          WHEREAS, Seventy-nine banks in the United States have failed in 1984; and

          WHEREAS, Many banks are failing due to loans made out of their states or out of the United States; and

          WHEREAS, Insider loans and poor management have been identified as major factors in bank failures; and

          WHEREAS, The public safety and welfare are threatened by the large and continuous quarterly losses of state and federally chartered banks, by bank failures, and by defaults on out-of-state loans held by in-state banks; and

          WHEREAS, The federal government has done little to aid small and community banks and has come to the aid of large banks; and

          WHEREAS, Banks are subject to world events far beyond the scope of state powers; and

          WHEREAS, Continuity is needed in the haphazard arrangement of federal and state regulation of financial institutions and there are enforcement gaps between federal and state laws and regulations of banking; and

          WHEREAS, The division of regulatory authority and the mixture of activities leads to confusion by the public; and

          WHEREAS, The Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board has declared banks to be in a chaotic situation; and

          WHEREAS, Outdated banking laws are not able to keep up with the rapid changes in the financial services industry; and

          WHEREAS, The proliferation of computerized information has made interstate banking an actual fact if not a legal fact and interstate banking requires a centralized regulatory framework; and

          WHEREAS, Nonbank banks and the entry of retail stores and chains and stock brokerages into the banking business evades federal and state regulations, and the activities of out-of-state banks affects the security and health of in-state banks; and

          WHEREAS, The distinctions between banking and insurance have become unclear; and

          WHEREAS, Insurance is regulated only at the state level; and

          WHEREAS, Most banks are subject to regulation by federal regulatory agencies to some degree;

          NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that Congress should establish a uniform system of regulating financial institutions and other providers of financial services.

          BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.