Ohio Senator JD Vance Tapped as VP Candidate

07/17/24

Ohio Senator JD Vance has officially been selected as Former President Trump's Vice-Presidential candidate. Throughout his time as Senator and during his tenure on the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Vance has worked with the OBL and the banks in Ohio to push back against harmful policies coming from the regulatory agencies in Washington, D.C. He has been a strong advocate for the Ohio banking industry. Senator Vance and his staff have met, personally, with OBL members throughout the state to understand the needs of their bank and their individual community. As with any elected official, OBL and Senator Vance agree on some issues while respectfully disagreeing on others. He has been an important ally as we work to push back on the federal banking regulators abuse of their statutory authority, and their continued avalanche of new regulations on the industry.

However, Sen. Vance's selection signals a potential shift in the GOP away from its traditional pro-business stance toward a more economic populist approach that is skeptical of corporate America. In his time in the Senate, he has quickly signed onto legislation the OBL opposes or has strong concerns with. He was an early co-sponsor of the Durbin Amendment expansion bill the Credit Card Competition Act. He did not support the industry when he voted against the SAFER Banking Act in committee and has teamed up with Senator Elizabeth Warren on several pieces of legislation targeting the financial services industry. Recently, Vance has entered the cryptocurrency regulation debate, developing a crypto-friendly bill that has garnered support from the digital asset industry.

Most importantly, Senator Vance has always been willing to meet with the OBL and understand our position before taking any vote, and we expect that to continue if he were to become Vice President. Just after his nomination became public the OBL released the following statement. "The Ohio Bankers League (OBL) congratulates Senator J.D. Vance for being selected as President Trump's Vice-Presidential candidate. Senator Vance has done an excellent job representing the unique, diverse economy of Ohio. He and his staff have met, personally, with OBL members throughout the state to understand the needs of their bank and their individual community. The OBL believes that Senator Vance has an expert understanding of the banking industry and if he were to become Vice President the industry would continue to grow stronger."