Financial Services

As a member of the House Financial Services Committee, I contribute to policies that directly affect our economy. With jurisdiction over banking, insurance, housing, and capital markets, the Financial Services Committee is uniquely positioned to focus on legislative polices that help create good-paying jobs, reduce regulatory burdens and put America’s economy on a long term path to prosperity.

Inspired by a desire to serve my fellow citizens and get America back on track, I ran for Congress to fight for policies that promote job growth.  As the original author of Title I of the bipartisan Jumpstart our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, which was signed into law in April 2012 and created the category of the Emerging Growth Company (EGC), I have been pleased to see the economic success created since its implementation. Specifically, the JOBS Act reduces barriers for private companies to access capital and file initial public offerings (IPOs) on U.S. exchanges. Since the JOBS Act was signed into law, 561 companies have gone public as EGCs, which is 84% of all IPOs according to the SEC.

Companies typically grow and expand when they go public. On average, 92% of a company’s job growth occurs after an IPO. These smaller companies are our nation’s best job creators, but have been hit the hardest by excessive regulations. In April, I introduced the Improving Access to Capital for Emerging Growth Companies Act, legislation that will improve the IPO on-ramp, making it easier for small emerging growth companies to expand. This is an important piece of legislation that will lead to more quality jobs for Americans and I was pleased to see it pass the House on July 14, 2015.

Next, I intend to improve access to financing for affordable housing in rural areas. It isn’t fair that hardworking Americans are forced to bear the costs of Washington’s excessive regulations, which is why I‘m putting options back on the table for millions of families with my bill to restore access to financing for affordable housing. Right now, consumers are unfairly being shut out of the market for affordable housing due to rules issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). With millions of Americans still recovering from the fallout of the housing crisis, my bill will improve access to quality, affordable housing for consumers across the country.

Another concern of mine is that the United States is losing about one community bank per day, and since the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, we have lost over 1,500 community banks nationwide. Faced with astronomical compliance costs, many community banks have been forced to either close their doors or merge with larger banks, further consolidating Americans’ banking services into a handful of institutions, rather than a diverse system with banks of different sizes providing a variety of services. Under Dodd-Frank regulations, a community bank's ability to extend credit is reduced, decreasing small-business lending and destroying the opportunity to create new businesses and jobs.