Member Corner

INVESTing in Innovation, Growth, and Stability in Missouri
Rep. Ann Wagner (MO-02)
January 16, 2026

Life is challenging for Missouri families right now, whether it is rising grocery budgets, buying a new home, or investing for the future. Congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump are laser focused on promoting solutions to these problems and helping every Missourian feel more financially secure and have more money in their pocket.

While the Working Families Tax Cut will bring historic savings for American taxpayers, Congress is working today to help retail investors and Main Street businesses invest and save for their futures.

For too long, access to American capital markets has been limited to our nation’s coastal regions, leaving the heartland of America behind. Our markets must work for all Americans. As Chair of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, I have made it my priority to broaden access so that families across the country have the opportunity to harness the power of the market to better secure their lives and their futures.

After years of work with my colleagues and countless hearings, negotiations, meetings, and much more, I was proud to sponsor and help win House passage of the INVEST Act last month. It's a package of more than 20 bipartisan bills that will help Americans be more financially secure by investing in our communities, in our jobs, and investing in our future. It is now awaiting action in the Senate.

America is home to the greatest and strongest economy in the world. The INVEST Act will make sure our communities here in Missouri and the greater Midwest benefit from that strength by supporting growth here at home instead of just a few big cities on the coasts.

Too many businesses and jobs are leaving the heartland and taking our kids and our future with them. The INVEST Act aims to change that by reversing the outward flow of investment and instead channeling those resources to entrepreneurs and small businesses in our communities to create good paying jobs for the future — the kind of jobs on which you can support a family and build a career.

INVEST also creates new opportunities for retirement savers to secure their financial futures. The number of U.S. public companies has collapsed from 8,800 in 1997 to fewer than 4,000 in 2024, depriving investors of options to build wealth and limiting retirement security. By reducing burdens for emerging companies and expanding access to streamlined registration, we are taking steps to ensure that everyone has access to investments on which to build their futures.

This legislation throws open the door for everyone to share in the wealth of America, not just Wall Street insiders.

I am incredibly proud of the entrepreneurs and small business owners that call Missouri home. They are trailblazers who started companies in garages, turned family businesses into thriving enterprises, and made small ideas grow into lifechanging success. We are all grateful for their hard work that has created jobs right here in our backyard, and they deserve to be supported in Congress.

The simple truth is that parents, local leaders, entrepreneurs, and small businessmen know what is best for their family, community, and business. This bill gets government out of their way so they can focus on what’s important, like innovating at work and supporting their families at home.

INVEST empowers average Americans to make choices that suit their needs, scrapping outdated rules for investing in private markets that use wealthiness, rather than knowledge and experience, to determine who can participate.

Americans need increased access to our nation’s capital markets so they can save for their future, grow their retirement funds, lower investment costs, and help create new jobs and build small businesses. Over 80 different supporting organizations and 300 of my House colleagues who voted in favor of this bill agree — it’s time that we INVEST in America.

Every American deserves their shot at the American Dream. With this bill, we will ensure that millions of Americans, from Missouri’s Second District and beyond, have more tools to make this a reality.