Dodd-Frank Draws Fire From Ron DeSantis and Prosperity Bank CEO

Freshman U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., is the vice chairman of the U.S. Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs. From that perch, DeSantis invited Eddie Creamer, the president and CEO of Prosperity Bank in St. Augustine, to testify before the subcommittee on Thursday on how Dodd-Frank impacts community banks -- and, in particular, Prosperity Bank and its ability to serve Florida's 6th District..

There are thousands of pages of state law and regulation and thousands more of FDIC law and regulations with which we must interpret and comply," Creamer said. Today, my senior staff and I spend in excess of 35 percent of our time understanding and complying with law and regulation and responding to examination and reporting requirements.

"Excessive bureaucracy and red tape as exhibited by Dodd-Frank and other laws hurt the ability of community banks to serve the local community, undermine economic growth and make robust small-business job creation more elusive," DeSantis said. "Community banks had nothing to do with the financial crisis and yet the burdens of the bureaucracy are making it more difficult for small firms to compete with the big banks. Big government necessarily disadvantages small businesses. I thank Mr. Creamer for his testimony demonstrating the harmful effect laws such as Dodd-Frank are having on local economies."