Senate about to put economy at risk by dismantling bank rules

UPDATE (March 15, 2018) — The Senate voted 67-31 Wednesday night to pass the bill. Both Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell voted “no.” The legislation faces an uncertain fate going forward, as House Republicans are expected to push for an even more expansive rollback of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 13, 2018) — Republicans in Congress want to roll back the Dodd-Frank rules put in place to avoid another financial crisis like the one 10 years ago that cost millions of Americans their homes and retirement savings. And some Democrats want to help them.

The Congressional Budget Office warns that the bill relaxing regulations on 25 of the 38 biggest banks in the country would make financial firms with assets between $100 billion and $250 billion more likely to fail. The legislation is opposed by labor (AFL-CIO), consumer watchdogs (Public Citizen), public policy groups (Center for American Progress), activists (Indivisible), banking experts (Americans for Financial Reform), citing harms to consumers and risks to financial stability.

And yet, the Senate could vote as soon as Wednesday on the bill and several Democrats are expected to side with Republicans in dismantling these Dodd-Frank protections. Here is how Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) explains the bill:

Do you think Congress should relax the rules on the big banks that got bailed out by taxpayers? The Senate votes on the #BankLobbyistAct this week and Washington is hearing loud and clear from the bank lobbyists. It’s time they hear from you. pic.twitter.com/HOBlnTZSPj

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 12, 2018

Will Washington’s Democratic Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell vote for this? Stay tuned.

In the meantime, sign this AFL-CIO petition urging them to vote NO!