AFP Pens Letter in Support of CHOICE Act

Jun 27, 2016 by AFP

June 27, 2016

Dear Chairman Hensarling:

On behalf of more than 2.8 million Americans for Prosperity activists in all 50 states, I write in strong support of the Creating Hope and Opportunity for Investors, Consumers and Entrepreneurs (CHOICE) Act. Your legislation includes an impressive number of meaningful changes to federal banking laws that will reduce the myriad layers of financial regulation that people and financial institutions face.

Your legislation brings much-needed Congressional oversight over federal banking programs. Most notable are the reforms at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which currently operates under the direction a single director that’s unelected and unaccountable. It would expand the CFPB’s board to a five-member bipartisan commission and subject the agency to the Congressional appropriation process. Additionally notable is a provision that requires future rules from financial regulatory agencies to be subject to cost-benefit analysis and the REINS Act— meaning that any executive branch regulation with an annual economic impact of $100 million or would receive an up-or-down vote in Congress before being enacted.

Your legislation also reins in the corporate welfare policies that have characterized banking laws since Dodd-Frank was signed into law. It would stop the ability of the Exchange Stabilization Fund to bail out a financial firm or its creditors using taxpayer dollars and end “Too Big To Fail” — two concepts that are wholly antithetical to free markets and competition.

Americans for Prosperity applauds your leadership in reining in the overbearing financial regulations that threaten growth and threaten consumer financial stability. Repealing and replacing the failed policies established in the Dodd-Frank Act will mean that Americans will have greater access to capital, which will lead to greater job growth, personal wealth, and overall economic prosperity. We are proud to support the CHOICE Act, and we urge your colleagues to support it.

Sincerely,

Brent Gardner
Vice President of Government Affairs
Americans for Prosperity