Emmer gets 1st bill passed in House
For U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, getting his first bill passed on the floor of the House of Representatives doesn't quite rank up there with getting married to his wife or having children.
But still, in an era of deadlocked government, getting a bill passed in his first 15 months in Congress and his first year on the Financial Services Committee is an accomplishment Minnesota's 6th District freshman congressman is eager to talk about — even if its chances of becoming law are a long shot.
The bill, which passed the House last Thursday, would give Congress oversight over two government entities that decide which financial institutions are systemically important, or "too big to fail," and require additional regulations.
The Financial Stability Oversight Council and the Office of Financial Research were created in 2010 as part of the Dodd-Frank Act reforms of Wall Street and the banking industry.
Emmer's bill would put the agencies' budgets through the appropriations process of Congress, require quarterly reports and a public comment period before the agencies issue any new regulations.
"What this bill is about is transparency and accountability of an agency," he said in an interview Wednesday with the St. Cloud Times.
Emmer said that while he believes government has a role in consumer protection, the additional reporting requirements and regulations known as "enhanced supervision" aren't just affecting the nation's largest financial institutions, but smaller banks and credit unions as well. It's rare nowadays to see a bank advertising free checking, he said.
"They are getting smothered by this top-down overwhelming bureaucracy that we've created," Emmer said.
Emmer said his bill is important not just to the financial industry, but to Congress and its constitutional authority. Under the current system, Congress has no say over these agencies' spending, he said.
"It's important to bring these institutions ... in front of congressional oversight committees to justify their budget, so they can start to tell us what they're doing, why they're doing it," Emmer said. "So the American public understands that these costs that are being charged to these major financial institutions — which ultimately are being paid by you and me — are being done for the right reason, which is consumer protection."
A tamer Tom Emmer closes out freshman year in Congress
Emmer's bill passed the House with just one Democrat supporting it. Its chances of passage in the Senate are very unlikely, and the Obama administration has threatened a veto.
Requiring the agencies to go through the congressional appropriations process would hinder their independence and subject them to "political gamesmanship," the Office of Management and Budget wrote in an April 12 statement.
"Maintaining a funding source independent of political interference allows FSOC and the OFR to function at full capacity and focus on threats to financial stability," the statement read.
Emmer, who is facing an election challenge from the right from AJ Kern of Sauk Rapids, acknowledged that the bill won't become law this year. But he said he'll continue working to get it passed, and said the experience of getting his first bill through the House hasn't left him more cynical about politics.
"I'm not the least bit jaded by a process of slowing winning people over," Emmer said.
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