Feenstra visits First Bank Hampton

U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra visited Hampton on Thursday, April 8 for a public meeting at First Bank Hampton.

Attended largely by bank leadership, Feenstra told his hosts what he has been up to as a freshman Congressman during his first year in Washington D.C.

Feenstra is currently serving on the House of Representatives' Agriculture committee, the Science and Technology committee, and the Budget committee, where his work often overlaps as he focuses on Iowa's needs.

For instance, his work on the agriculture committee includes weighing in on energy policy, which coincides with the Science and Technology committee's work on biofuels.

On the budget committee, the current focus is on President Biden's proposed infrastructure plan and the possibility of raising the corporate income tax rate to fund those initiatives.

Between inflation and interest rates, Feenstra is concerned what a raise in the corporate tax would have on the economy.

"The crazy thing is that our dollar is so strong," said Feenstra. "In my mind, I struggle because you would think that the dollar would be devalued because of that."

Of interest to the bankers, Feenstra told them about the Enhancing Credit Opportunities for Rural America legislation, a bi-partisan bill that he is working with alongside Congressman Ron Kind (D-WI). Feenstra says that the ECORA bill would remove the tax on income from farm real estate loans, leveling the playing field between banks and the Farm Credit system.

"This is a big deal," said Feenstra. "Farm Credit has tax free loans and you're paying tax on that, so we can take that tax off and that sort of levels the playing field and could reduce the interest rates on loans by 1.5 to 2%."

Feenstra says that the bill "has legs" and hopes to see it move through the house.

The group also discussed the positive effects that the CARES Act and subsequent COVID relief packages have had on both the bank and the community, particularly through the paycheck protection loans. The need for more affordable housing and daycare was also touched on as necessary for Iowa's growth.

One aspect about working in Washington that Feenstra shared was that Iowa is far from the only ag-state and there are many varied interests in the agriculture sector, which can make it difficult for Midwest specific topics to gain notice.

"You have almonds and you have pineapple growers," said Feenstra. "The loudest are the sugar cane people. They have power."

With First Bank Hampton recently opening their satellite location in Latimer, the need for broadband access in rural areas is of particular relevance to them. They shared the struggle they had with getting sufficient internet access and asked Feenstra to look into more support for rural broadband as the infrastructure discussion takes center stage.

One issue with rural broadband development is that the FCC definition of broadband has remained static since 2015, when it was defined as 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload.

"You can't even play Fortnite on 25," said Feenstra.

Because this definition hasn't been updated in the last five years, many areas are considered to have broadband access even though that's not true from a practical standpoint. This makes it harder to receive grants and funds to support needed upgrades.

"People don't realize how much more effective they can be if they have faster speeds," said Feenstra.