On Thursday the House of Representatives passed a five-year highway bill that includes Chairman Jeb Hensarling's (R-TX) amendment of 15 bipartisan financial services bills. These bills have all previously passed the House as stand-alone measures with strong bipartisan support.
Chairman Hensarling remarked on the passage of his amendment, "It is very difficult to come by bipartisan bills, but I am proud to say that the House Financial Services Committee has passed numerous pieces of bipartisan legislation. They are modest because they are bipartisan, but they are important and can make a difference in people’s lives."
To view the bills that passed, click here.
Subcommittee Discusses Legislation to Promote U.S. Capital Markets and Protect Due Process Rights
The Financial Services Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee held a hearing on Wednesday to continue the Committee's work on promoting Main Street small businesses.
The committee reviewed five legislative proposals to help facilitate capital formation in U.S. markets and to ensure that defendants' rights are protected when dealing with a Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement case.
"Four of these bills would build upon the success of the 2012 JOBS Act by lowering barriers to capital formation for small and growing businesses," said Subcommittee Chairman Scott Garrett (R-NJ) said in his opening statement. "The 5th bill [...] would allow defendants in litigated SEC enforcement cases to have their case removed to a federal district court, thereby availing themselves of the due process protections under Article III of our Constitution and relevant federal law."
Chairman Garrett expressed concern that “In recent years, the SEC has transformed itself into a veritable judge, jury and executioner as it has brought more and more enforcement cases before its in-house tribunal, where they are heard by administrative law judges, who are themselves employees of the SEC," Bloomberg reported.
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Rep. Bill Huizenga | Reform bill would make Federal Reserve accountable
Today, the Federal Reserve has an unprecedented level of influence and control over the financial system, and despite this unbridled concentration of power the Fed has failed to accurately predict and respond to changing economic conditions. Because of these shortcomings, nearly every generation of hardworking Americans, since the Fed’s creation, has suffered through a financial crisis. No bureaucracy, especially one with as poor a record as the Fed, should be allowed to go unchecked.
Weekend Must Reads
Washington Examiner | Report: Less than 1 percent of all Obama regs tested for costs
The administration frequently says that new rules have positive net benefits, but CEI's vice president for policy, Clyde Wayne Crews Jr., explained that most of the rules are never subjected to a cost analysis, raising concerns that politics is at play.
Investor's Business Daily | Obama Regulators Inflate Consumers' Bank Complaints
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau documents reveal the out-of-control agency is larding a first-of-its-kind national Consumer Complaint Database with bogus accusations against financial lenders.
U.S. News | Take Away the CFPB's Keys
In a stunning rebuke to the president who created the CFPB, 88 House Democrats voted in favor of the change and to clip the agency's wings just a bit. The bill is now headed to the Senate where, one hopes, it will pass and go to Obama's desk and be signed into law. If you want to argue discrimination, you should have to prove actual discrimination – not just submit a statistical model that is vulnerable to the "garbage in, garbage out" defect. Hopefully other regulatory agencies will get the message.
On the Horizon
December 8, 2015 10:00 a.m.
Full Committee Hearing
"Oversight of the Financial Stability Oversight Council"
December 8, 2015 2:00 p.m.
Full Committee Markup
"Markup of HR 2187, HR 2205, HR 2287, HR 3700, HR 3784, HR 3791, HR 4168, and the Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing Resolution of 2016"
In the News
Wall Street Journal | Consumer Watchdog Pushed Discrimination Case on Vulnerable Firm: Report
New York Times | Consumer Bureau Faulted on Auto Lending Inquiry
American Banker | House GOP Accuses CFPB of Improper Auto Lending Crackdown
Washington Examiner | GOP says feds using 'junk science' to attack auto dealers
Politico Pro | House Republicans slam CFPB's auto-lending enforcement
American Banker | CFPB Critics See Glimmer of Hope in Auto Lending Bill
Bloomberg | CFPB Unconstitutional, House Panel Chair Tells Court
Bloomberg | Lawmakers, Others Question SEC In-House Court
Wall Street Journal | Former Official Says SEC Beset by ‘Crisis of Confidence’ Over In-House Judges
Wall Street Journal | SEC Faces `Crisis of Confidence’ Over In-House Court, Ex-Official Says