US Senator Jerry Moran joined banking officials, local and area lawmakers and Emporia State administrators for a special meeting on campus with Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Miki Bowman.
Before Monday’s meeting at the Sauder Alumni Center, Moran joined KVOE’s Morning Show for an interview touching on topics like banking policy, domestic and international trade and impeachment.
Moran says the ag economic sector has deteriorated, with farm bankruptcies spiking through 2019 and on-farm income cut in half since 2013 due to high supplies across the globe and issues with either maintaining or developing trade agreements, although that second trend seems to be breaking with recent agreements forged with Japan, Canada and Mexico. Moran says the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, more commonly known as USMCA, and the agreement with Japan provide a lot of certainty — both for ag producers and for America’s trade partners. A so-called “phase one” trade agreement with China shows promise, but there are significant concerns China will not meet some of the agriculture-based trading benchmarks.
Bowman, meanwhile, served as vice president of Farmers and Drovers Bank in Council Grove from 2010-2017 before joining the Board of Governors. She says her first priority is making sure the Federal Reserve’s policies for ag producers are appropriate and efficient.
Moran says it’s imperative that federal banking regulators realize that credit situations may not be perfect when lenders consider financing for ag operations. He also says lenders need to take into account character and payment history when determining whether to loan money.
On the impeachment of President Donald Trump, Moran says he plans to do his due diligence once the articles of impeachment go from the House to the Senate. However, he believes the issues at stake — notably the withholding of military aid to Ukraine unless the son of former Vice President Joe Biden’s relationship to a Ukrainian gas company was investigated — don’t merit impeachment and also undermines “the will of the American people.”
