The Senate Appropriations Committee today passed by a 16-14 party-line vote a spending bill for fiscal year 2016 that includes the text of the ABA-backed financial reform bill introduced earlier this year by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.). Shelby’s proposal would provide regulatory relief for community, mid-size and regional banks, tailor the regulatory structure for systemically important banks and begin restructuring within the Federal Reserve System and at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The appropriations process provides an alternative legislative mechanism for moving the regulatory relief provisions forward, including nearly two dozen measures that are part of ABA’s Agenda for America’s Hometown Banks, many of which have been introduced as standalone measures or in other relief packages in both houses of Congress.
Since Shelby introduced his bill this spring, bankers have used ABA’s grassroots advocacy tool to send more than 1,900 letters encouraging 88 of 100 senators to support the bill. Bankers are encouraged to ask their senators to support the Shelby bill and — if they have already agreed to do so — thank them for their support.
