In Barnett Bank of Marion Cty., N. A. v. Nelson (1996) 517 U.S. 25, the Supreme Court was presented with the question of "whether a federal statute that permits national banks to sell insurance in small towns pre-empts a state statute that forbids them to do so." (Barnett, supra, 517 U.S. at p. 27.) The Florida statute at issue stated, "in essence, that banks cannot sell insurance in Florida--except that an unaffiliated small town bank ... may sell insurance in a small town." (Id. at p. 29.) The court first observed there was no irreconcilable conflict between the two statutes: national banks could comply with both federal law and state law by not acting as an insurance agent in Florida. (Id. at pp. 31-32.) But the Court concluded the federal grant of authority--"national banks 'may ... act as the agent' for insurance sales (12 U.S.C. 92)"--was designed to grant "a broad, not a limited, permission." (Id. at p. 32.) The court next summarized relevant law: "Normally Congress would not want States to forbid, or to impair significantly, the exercise of a power that Congress explicitly granted. To say this is not to deprive States of the power to regulate national banks, where (unlike here) doing so does not prevent or significantly interfere with the national bank's exercise of its powers." (Id. at p. 33.) The court held the Florida statute was preempted. (Id. at pp. 37, 43.)