There’s a push to crack down on banking executives responsible for the collapse of their financial institutions.
Iowa could ban the state’s public universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. And Illinois lawmakers consider a proposal to let people who aren’t United States citizens become police officers.
We’ll talk about that this morning with Scott County Democratic Party Chair Kay Pence and former Iowa State Rep. David Millage, a Republican.
We start in Illinois with House Bill 37-51. This proposal would allow people who aren’t U. S. citizens to become police officers in the state. They do have to be in the country with legal authorization to work.
Applicants have to meet all other requirements for the job, just not citizenship. That would make DACA recipients eligible.
We know police departments across the country are having problems recruiting officers.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Pence said. “They’ve been having trouble finding and retaining police officers.”
Millage says he’s ambivalent. “To make them peace officers, I think, is a real stretch. Although I suppose because there’s a shortage and if they have merit and the character to be a police officer, maybe they should be.”
In other matters, recent collapses or near collapses of big banks across the country have some politicians pointing the fingers at the executives who run them.
We saw the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. First Republic Bank was a third on its way to failing until the country’s biggest banks came to its financial rescue.
But Forbes reports the CEO of Silicon Valley Bank sold more than $3.5 million worth of stock before it collapsed. Our colleagues at The Hill report executives at First Republic Bank sold stock worth almost $12 million before it crashed.
President Biden wants Congress to pass a law to give the FDIC more power to force executives to return their earnings, make it easier to ban them from working in the industry, and make it easier to fine them.
To hear more of what our panelists say, click on the video.
And now we want to hear from you, too, which brings us to our question of the week: What consequences do you think there should be for the banking executives responsible for the recent failures, if any? Let us know what you think at 4therecord@whbf.com
Local 4 News, your local election headquarters, is proud to present 4 The Record, a weekly news and public affairs program focused on the issues important to you. It’s a program unlike any other here in the Quad Cities. Tune in each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. as Jim Niedelman brings you up to speed on what’s happening in the political arena, from Springfield, Des Moines, Washington, D.C. and right here at home.
