WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Ed Whitfield (KY-01) voted yesterday in favor of two bills; H.R. 3791, a bill to raise the consolidated assets threshold under the small bank holding company policy statement, and H.R. 3340, the Financial Stability Oversight Council Reform Act. Both of these bills are in response to the Dodd-Frank Act, which added over 400 new financial regulations. H.R. 3791 would allow more small banks to access capital that can be used to make loans and offer new products and services to their customers. H.R. 3340 would reclaim the “power of the purse” by bringing the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and the Office of Financial Research (OFR) into the budget and making them subject to a transparent appropriations process. Whitfield released the following statement upon passage:
“The mountain of regulations and red tape that has resulted from Dodd-Frank has made it difficult for community financial institutions to help hardworking Americans achieve their financial independence. This overregulation has also led to the development of powerful bureaucracies such as the FSOC and OFR that have more power than ever over the financial decisions of Americans but are not accountable to taxpayers. The FSOC operates behind closed doors and has intensely resisted congressional efforts to expose its deliberations and inject greater transparency. These two bills seek to right some of the wrongs of Dodd-Frank and provide regulatory relief for those working on Main Street, not Wall Street.”