Congressman Kevin Cramer

Representing North Dakota, At Large

CRAMER SUPPORTS CAPITAL-RAISING BILLS IN THE HOUSE

Jul 18, 2018

Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Kevin Cramer supported a package of bills today in the House of Representatives to improve capital raising abilities for small companies. The legislation is a follow-up from the House to S. 2155 the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which modifies provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank).

Cramer joined President Trump at the White House for the signing of S. 2155 earlier this year. “I am certainly pleased we were able to pass additional legislation this week to deregulate and improve the opportunity to raise capital so we can compete in the 21st century economy,” said Cramer. “There is more to be done to ease the burden from Dodd-Frank, and I hope the Senate quickly acts on the strong bills the House has passed. This legislations helps our already booming economy that’s been skyrocketing ever since the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.”

The House amendment to S. 488, the JOBS and Investor Confidence Act of 2018, combines provisions of 32 individual bills principally designed to spur entrepreneurship by reinvigorating business startups and initial public offerings. These bills prioritize America’s capital markets in pursuit of long-term economic growth in a challenging global economy.

The Committee on Financial Services reported that 80 percent of business debt comes from investors in capital markets, not lenders, making the follow-up legislation passed by the House necessary in achieving greater economic success.

Bills passed in the package include:

H.R. 5288 Common Sense Credit Union Capital Relief Act, delays to 2021 the National Credit Union Administration risk-based capital (RBC) rule. The RBC rules enacted under Dodd-Frank were not intended by Congress to apply to credit unions.
H.R. 4566 Alleviating Stress Test Burdens to Help Investors Act exempts non-banks, such as mutual funds, from Dodd-Frank stress testing.
H.R. 6321 Investment Adviser Regulatory Flexibility Improvement Act directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to consider whether such alternative methods for businesses or organizations to qualify as a “small business” or “small organization” should include a threshold based on the number of non-clerical employees of the business or organization.
H.R. 4281 Expanding Access to Capital for Job Creators Act expands the function of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to include identifying problems that small businesses in rural areas experience with securing access to capital. The office would be required to summarize those issues within an existing annual report.
H.R. 79 HALOS ACT clarifies that certain startup companies are able to give presentations about their company and host events such as “demo days,” without violating SEC investment rules.
H.R. 2364 Investing in Main Street Act increases the amount of capital and surplus that a financial institution and federal savings association can invest in a Small Business Company from 5 percent to 15 percent in order to assist small business in obtaining venture capital and private equity.