This week, the House of Representatives acted in an effort to alleviate burdens and cut through red tape standing in the way of our Main Street businesses’ access to capital. As I travel through Virginia’s Fifth District, the negative effects of federal over-regulation and government mandates contained in the Dodd-Frank law can be seen among our small businesses. That is why I introduced the Investment Advisers Modernization Act of 2016 earlier this year, along with Congressman Bill Foster (D-Illinois), Congressman Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), and Congressman Juan Vargas (D-California), earlier this year and am pleased to say this past week it passed the House of Representatives in a bipartisan fashion with a vote of 261-145. This bill would serve to rid the Investment Advisers Act (IAA) of 1940 of outdated, duplicative, and burdensome regulations which impose an unnecessary hardship on our small business’ ability to access capital.
Unfortunately, we have witnessed in recent years Central and Southside Virginia suffering tremendous job losses. As revitalizing job creation remains a primary focus for the House, a bright spot has been the jobs that have been maintained and created by small companies backed by private equity investment. This significant investment supports thousands of jobs in Virginia and across the country. It should be noted that this bipartisan effort to streamline the IAA in no way impedes the ability of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to carry out its role, nor does it repeal the registration requirement imposed by Dodd-Frank. Rather, this measure is a much-needed legislative update to a law that no longer adequately reflects the current model of our nation’s small businesses and investors. Our proposal was developed in a deliberative and inclusive manner with input from Republicans, Democrats, the SEC, and stakeholders from across the spectrum. It has been this open approach to reform that attracted the support from more than half of the Democrats and all of the Republicans on the Financial Service Committee during a committee markup in June. Congress has the important responsibility to review and update our laws from time to time to ensure that we have a more efficient and effective regulatory system that will protect investors while enabling our Main Street and small businesses to access capital and create jobs for our constituents.
As we know, small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and the ability for these entities to access private capital is imperative for their success and the success of our local and national economies. In order for our economy to grow and for our small business owners to be able to create the jobs that we need, we must remove unnecessary regulations that tie up private capital and create economic uncertainty, and put in place policies that encourage investment, innovation, and the entrepreneurial spirit that makes America the beacon of economic opportunity.
Through updating and reducing the costly regulations being placed on those who are making critical investments in our economy, our small business owners will have the ability to gain access to capital more easily so that more jobs can be created and more jobs can be preserved. I remain committed to empowering our small businesses in Virginia’s Fifth District and beyond with the opportunity to succeed, and it is my hope that the Administration will work with us in Congress to sign this legislation into law.
If you need any additional information or if we may be of assistance to you, please visit my website at hurt.house.gov or call my Washington office: (202) 225-4711, Charlottesville office: (434) 973-9631, Danville office: (434) 791-2596, or Farmville office: (434) 395-0120.
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