Today, Representative Katie Porter (D-CA) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced the Secure Viable Banking (SVB) Act with a coalition of 50 lawmakers from both chambers of Congress. Their legislation would repeal Title IV of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018, a bill that contributed to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank. In 2017, Congresswoman Porter, then a candidate for Congress, warned about the dangers of passing the 2018 law, which reduced critical oversight and capital requirements for large banks. 

“Americans deserve to know their money is safe when they deposit it in the bank,” said Rep. Katie Porter, a consumer finance expert. “In 2018, politicians rolled back critical regulations protecting Americans’ deposits—ignoring warnings from financial experts in favor of Wall Street special interests. I’m calling on Congress to restore common-sense guardrails that keep corporate greed in check and restore confidence in our financial system.”

“In 2018, I rang the alarm bell about what would happen if Congress rolled back critical Dodd-Frank protections: banks would load up on risk to boost their profits and collapse, threatening our entire economy – and that is precisely what happened,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren. “President Biden called on Congress to strengthen the rules for banks, and I'm proposing legislation to do just that by repealing the core of Trump’s bank law."

Title IV of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act raised the asset threshold at which a bank is considered and regulated as a “systemically important financial institution” to $250 billion, exempting SVB and other mid-sized banks from regular stress testing and enhanced liquidity, risk management, and resolution plan, or “living will,” requirements. The lawmakers' new bill would repeal these dangerous regulatory rollbacks, which invited banks to load up on risk and increase profits, restoring critical Dodd-Frank protections. 

Several major consumer advocacy organizations join the 50 legislators supporting the SVB Act, including: Americans for Financial Reform, California Reinvestment Coalition, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Main Street Alliance, and Public Citizen.

The full list of Senate and House cosponsors includes: Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Bob Casey (D-PA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Peter Welch (D-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Dwight Evans (D-PA), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Ro Khanna (D-CA), John Larson (D-CT), Mark Takano (D-CA), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Nanette Barragan (D-CA), John Garamendi (D-CA), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Cori Bush (D-MO), and Robert Garcia (D-CA).

Read the full text HERE.

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