WASHINGTON – A group of Republican senators raised the pressure to repeal last year’s Wall Street reform bill with a new bill Friday that would scratch the new law that would cap debit fees, create a new consumer agency, and create new regulations for the mortgage market, financial derivatives and governance of big financial institutions.
The bill, dubbed the Financial Takeover Repeal Act of 2011, has the backing of 18 Republican senators and GOP leadership but is widely seen as doomed because the Senate still is controlled by the Democrats, who passed the financial reform bill, and President Obama.
Still, the Republicans in the Senate, and some of their colleagues in the House, vowed to press forward with the repeal effort.
“We must repeal the Democrats’ takeover of the financial markets that favors Wall Street corporations, over-regulates small businesses with massive new bureaucracy and hurts consumers,” said Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican who drafted the bill. “Democrats rammed this government power-grab through last year, despite widespread concerns it would perpetuate federal bailouts, restrict credit to qualified borrowers, and raise costs for all Americans.”
House Republicans have been seeking to repeal several of the bill’s major portions in a piecemeal fashion, passing bills to scrap or amend several aspects of the legislation.
The credit union lobby was ambiguous about the new bill, though supporting rollbacks in several areas. NAFCU President Fred Becker noted his group’s opposition to many of the provisions of the bill, such as imposition of price controls on debit fees and the creation of a consumer financial protection agency. “Given the forgoing and the oncoming regulatory tidal wave, we would welcome and support any and all legislative relief for our industry,” he said.
