Last Monday, President Donald Trump was in Utica at a fundraiser for Representative Claudia Tenney. At the fundraiser, President Trump discussed Rep. Tenney’s wins in cutting taxes and regulations, putting more money in the pockets of central New Yorkers and putting them back in charge of their finances.
Thanks to Rep. Tenney and President Trump, 90% of wage earners have higher take-home pay because of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Recent action that amends parts of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act further builds on this economic upswing and delivers much needed relief to Upstate.
Washington imposed the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 following the financial collapse and subsequent recession that left the American economy crippled. The law forced small banks to sit on capital that could have been used to stimulate the economy. With the added compliance costs under President Obama, federal regulators were given control over the finances of New Yorkers.
President Obama hastily signed the legislation before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which was established by the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 and tasked with investigating the causes of the collapse, even had a chance to submit their findings to Congress.
Rather than taking incremental and well-thought-out approaches to oversight, legislators crafting Dodd-Frank treated all financial service firms as bad actors, drawing no distinction between Main Street and Wall Street. The American Action Forum found that in just eight years, Dodd-Frank and its 22,000 pages of rules cost Americans $38.9 in billion regulatory costs and generated 83 million paperwork hours.
Growing tired of a “Washington knows best” approach to regulation, banks were forced to limit or completely cut products like affordable small loans and free checking accounts. Consumers who enjoyed the services saw them disappear before their eyes while being replaced with high interest rates or monthly servicing fees as these smaller financial institutions had no other choice but to push the cost of the complex regulations onto their customers. It didn’t stop there; over two dozen banks across the state and hundreds across the country closed their doors since Dodd-Frank became law because of its crushing red tape.
In light of this, it’s no surprise that voters concerned about their family members and their own financial situation sent Claudia Tenney and Donald Trump to D.C. to cut the overspending and overregulation, making sure working families no longer had to worry about their budget running dry before the end the of the month.
After coming to Congress and the White House in 2016, the two immediately got to work. Making good on campaign promises to loosen burdensome banking regulations and expand consumer freedom, Rep. Tenney helped author portions of S.2155, which President Trump signed this past May. Introduced by Senate Banking Committee Chairman, Mike Crapo (R-S.D.), the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act rolls back provisions of Dodd-Frank that hampered community and regional banks, as well as credit unions.
By tailoring capital reserve requirements and loosening lending restrictions, S.2155 enables local financial institutions to better serve our communities as customers have new found accessibility to loans and mortgages. As Rep. Tenney noted, the bill “will allow community banks to free up resources to support community growth and serve small businesses, family farmers and entrepreneurs.”
Serving on a committee like Financial Services, the New Hartford native has become a lead sponsor on legislation that repeals harmful regulations by reaching across the aisle to advance pro-growth policies. Because of her efforts, hard-working New Yorkers are back in the driver’s seat when charting their financial futures. Her role in the passage of S.2155 means more opportunity for veterans to finance their first home, seniors to plan for their retirement, and children to invest in their future.
Promises made have been promises kept under this administration and Congress. Thanks to President Trump and members like Rep. Claudia Tenney, the American economy is bouncing back from eight straight years of disastrous policies that increased taxes and destroyed consumer choice.