Patrick McHenryChairman

Washington, January 16, 2015 - Bipartisan Majority Passes Regulatory Relief Bill to Help Create Jobs

On Wednesday the House passed H.R. 37, the Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act, with a bipartisan vote of 271-154.

The bill is a package of 11 targeted measures overwhelmingly supported by Republicans and Democrats in the 113th Congress which reduce regulatory burdens and make it easier for small businesses to access job-creating capital.

“It is clear that smart regulations allow the private sector to innovate and create more jobs while protecting taxpayers and consumers. However, it is equally clear that one-size-fits-all regulations hurt the economy by treating small and medium sized companies as if they are large, multinational corporations,” said Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA), the bill’s sponsor. “No Main Street small business, manufacturer, farmer or rancher caused the financial crisis. Yet they are subject to thousands of new pages of regulations that were supposedly designed for big Wall Street firms. That’s not fair.”

Taking note of the divisions the bill has caused in the House Democratic caucus, Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) said during debate that “it is time to do what everybody claims they want to do, and that is work on a bipartisan basis. All of these bills passed with overwhelming bipartisan majorities and now because of this almost religious zeal for the Dodd-Frank brand, some of my Democratic colleagues have decided they were for it before they were against it.”

One of the bill’s Democratic supporters, Rep. John Carney (D-DE), echoed Chairman Hensarling’s remarks.

“The provisions in this bill have passed Congress overwhelmingly in years past,” said Rep. Carney. “Only now has it become distorted and mischaracterized for political purposes. I will continue to stand firm in supporting improvements to financial regulations that will protect consumers and help businesses create jobs. That’s why I voted for this bill.”

Committee Holds Organizational Meeting

The Committee held its organizational meeting to adopt the rules package for the 114th Congress on Wednesday. At the conclusion of the meeting, Chairman Hensarling announced Republican subcommittee assignments as well as the Committee’s leadership team for the 114th Congress.

“I look forward to working alongside my colleagues to pass laws that help grow the economy from Main Street up, not Washington down,” said Chairman Hensarling. “Our committee will continue to focus on promoting sensible solutions that help create jobs and hold both Washington and Wall Street accountable to the American people."

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Rep. Bill Huizenga | Rep. Huizenga's mergers and acquisitions bill passes House of Representatives

"My bill idea came not from anybody on Wall Street, not from anybody in Washington, D.C., but from a mergers and acquisitions lawyer back in my district -- back in Grand Rapids, Michigan -- who said, we've been struggling with this problem and we need some help because we cannot get the SEC to move on this. ... 'It has been estimated that approximately $10 trillion of privately owned small family-owned type businesses will be sold or, worse yet, closed in the coming years as baby boomers retire. I don't think any of us would think that's a good thing."

Weekend Must Reads

American Banker | A New Congress, a New Chance to Rein In the CFPB

Congress should act to curb the CFPB. For one thing, Congress should ensure that it, rather than the Fed, funds the agency. This would make the agency directly accountable to Congress, which is in turn politically accountable to voters.

Real Clear Markets | The Illegitimate Dodd-Frank Law Has Nothing To Do With the Financial Crisis

Although the American people were told that the Dodd-Frank Act was a response to the 2008 financial crisis and was intended to prevent similar financial crises in the future, neither the administration nor Congress ever made any effort to determine what actually caused the crisis. Instead, the narrative that drove Dodd-Frank was concocted to achieve an ideological purpose: to impose greater regulation on the US financial system.

Real Clear Markets | Dodd-Frank Most Likely To Be At the Root Of a Future Crisis

Enhancing regulatory powers may seem like a good way to prevent people at financial companies from doing stupid or greedy things. Regulators, however, also do stupid and greedy things. The stakes are higher when regulators make mistakes because regulatory influence is not limited to one firm.

    On the Horizon 

January 21, 2015 2:00 p.m.
Full Committee Markup
"Markup to adopt the Committee’s oversight plan for the 114th Congress"