This week marks one year since the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 was signed into law. And just a year later, we’re already seeing the detrimental effects on small businesses and small lenders. The stricter regulatory environment created by Dodd-Frank and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), combined with the uncertainty brought by many of the law’s vague provisions, is greatly slowing small business lending.

Small companies are having a hard time acquiring much-needed capital to grow their business and hire workers and small lending institutions lack the capability of their larger counterparts to hire the additional manpower necessary to deal with the hundreds of additional regulations created by Dodd-Frank. The increase in costs associated with these new regulations has led to a decrease in revenue and a reduction in small banks' ability to meet the credit requirements of their communities.

To address these consequences, on Thursday, House Republicans passed the Consumer Financial Protection Safety and Soundness Improvement Act of 2011 (H.R. 1315) to replace the Bureau's director, an unelected bureaucrat with sweeping powers, with a five-member bipartisan commission. This will bring much-needed accountability and transparency to the CFPB.  Capital is already hard enough to come by for small firms and small lenders. The last thing they need is another bureaucrat changing regulations and eliminating credit lines on a whim. Consumer protection serves a great purpose; however, it must be done without harming our best job creators.

Sam Graves
Chairman

Latest Committee Action

Notable Op-ed

Small Businesses Aren't Celebrating Dodd-Frank Anniversary
By Chairman Sam Graves
July 21, 2011

News From Washington

On Tuesday, the House passed the Republican Cut, Cap, and Balance Act (H.R. 2560) 234-190. This commonsense legislation would codify the cuts made in House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget and raise the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion, contingent upon a Balanced Budget Amendment being sent to the states for ratification. It would also save $111 billion in 2012 and nearly $5.8 trillion over ten years. The bill would bring the size of government back below 20 percent of GDP to its average level over the last 30 years and grant President Obama’s request for an increase in the debt limit, but only after Congress has cut up the credit cards by passing a Balanced Budget Amendment.

On Wednesday, the House passed the Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2011 (H.R. 2553) 243-177. The bill would extend the authorities of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, and appropriate funds for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP).

On Thursday, the House passed H.R. 1315, the Consumer Financial Protection Safety and Soundness Improvement Act of 2011, 241-173. The legislation would bring oversight and accountability to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by replacing the CFPB Director with a five-member bipartisan commission; ensuring the chair of the commission is confirmed by the Senate before the transfer of power to the CFPB takes place; and establishing a meaningful review process of CFPB rules that may endanger the safety and soundness of financial institutions. 

On Friday, the House passed the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act of Fiscal Year 2012 (H.R. 2551) 252-159. The bill provides budget authority for all non-Senate Legislative Branch activities. To share in the burden of reducing the deficit, the House cut its own budget $227 million compared to last year’s levels. In fact, nearly every legislative branch office and agency will take at least a 6.4 percent cut, including the offices of Members of Congress, leadership, and Committees.

• WSJ:  Companies are Laying Off Employees at a Level Not Seen in Nearly a Year
• IBD: Home Depot Co-Founder: Obama Is Choking the Economy  
• WSJ: Debating Dodd-Frank: Is 'Too Big to Fail' Gone?
• CNN Money: Small Business Program Misses the Mark 

• Landry Votes for the Cut, Cap, & Balance Act
• Barletta: Where is the president's debt ceiling proposal? 
• Mulvaney Praises Passage of the Cut, Cap, Balance Act of 2011
• Ellmers Joins with Congresswomen to Talk with Women Voters 
• King Discusses Debt Limit on FOX News
• Coffman Statement on Cut, Cap & Balance Debate
• Tipton Calls for Common Sense, Balanced Approach to the Debt Ceiling
• Walsh Praises Cut, Cap, Balance Act 

• SBA: Empowering Small Businesses to Secure and Enforce Their Intellectual Property Rights
• NFIB: 3 Cost-Effective Alternatives to the Company Retreat