AFP Key Vote Alert: Vote “NO” on H.R. 1187

Jun 15, 2021 by AFP

Dear Representatives,

On behalf of Americans for Prosperity’s activists in all 50 states, I urge you to vote “NO” on H.R. 1187, the so-called “Corporate Governance Improvement and Investor Protection Act.”

Businesses can be a force for good when they serve customers, drive life-improving innovations, and enable employees to find fulfillment in their work. But the best way to do that is through bottom-up approaches, not top-down regulation. Mobilizing the Securities and Exchange Commission to force industry from all corners of the economy to adhere to dubious, ambiguous, and one-size-fits all requirements – as this bill does – will only harm our ability to improve society and undermine America’s capacity to lead in the global economy.

H.R. 1187 represents a sweeping expansion of government overreach and dramatic mission creep for the SEC, which has neither the authority, expertise, nor accountability to evaluate the materiality of these disclosures to shareholders and potential shareholders. Further, the standards these regulations set, and the effectiveness of the methods to which those standards would be met, are unclear. As an example, recent evidence has shown there is virtually no relationship between trends in energy-related carbon emissions and top-down climate policies such as the implementation of international agreements, carbon pricing, cap-and-trade, or command and control sectoral regulation. In fact, since the 2007 Massachusetts v. EPA decision, countries as well as states that have not endorsed these policies have generally reduced per capita energy-related carbon dioxide emissions at a far greater pace than those that have.

Beyond this, the very act of forcing companies to meet preset, one-size-fits-all requirements ultimately undermines the leaps in innovation we need to actually achieve our shared goals for the environment and society as a whole. Business leaders and consumers – not politicians and appointed Washington officials – are the driving force to innovate and deliver superior products and services that solve for the needs of today while also pushing our country toward a better future that benefits all.

This bill would also impose new costly burdens on companies, open the floodgates to cronyism, undermine businesses’ ability to create new value, and ultimately put a drag on our recovering economy.

We look forward to working together to improve the environment and address other great challenges facing our country. The best way to do that is through bottom-up innovation, not top-down regulation such as those mandated by this bill.

I urge you to vote “NO” on H.R. 1187. This vote will be recorded in our legislative scorecard for the 117th Congress.

Sincerely,

Brent Gardner

Chief Government Affairs Officer

Americans for Prosperity