In the News

Fintechs need to include strong consumer protections, diversity, and inclusion, Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), chair of the House Financial Services Committee's panel on consumer protection and financial institutions said at a hearing on banking innovation today.

"Most banks and credit unions have been a source of strength in the pandemic in part because of the stringent capital, liquidity, and other regulatory requirements we place on these financial institutions," he asserted.

(The Center Square) – Federal and state officials want to take a deeper dive into the future of digital currencies and the backbone of what makes them work.

Digital currencies like Bitcoin work on what's called the blockchain. That's a distributed digital ledger U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, says is non-falsifiable.

"Something that you cannot go and make a counterfeit copy of something that's already been published on the blockchain," Foster said. "And so that will prevent a lot of document fraud."

If there's any group of young people who deserve student loan forgiveness, it's those young people who've made a career out of doing good.

It's an easy call, in our view, to cancel burdensome student debt held by teachers, doctors, nurses, nonprofit employees and others who chose a career in public service, most often forgoing a big paycheck in the process.

Both Democrats and a Republican representing Will County in Congress supported legislation to expand background checks on all gun sales.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills last Thursday to require a background check for every gun sale or transfer and to close a "loophole" which allows for the sale of a firearm if a background check is not completed within three business day, according to a news release.

Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, called the changes "commonsense" and cited gun violence near his district as an example of what the bill aim to prevent.

Democratic members of Congress representing the Will County area backed a sweeping bill meant to enhance voting rights.

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives last week approved H.R. 1, the For the People Act, which proponents argued would address corruption and practices that hinder the right to vote.

Democratic members of Congress representing the Will County area backed a bill aiming to provide protections for LGBTQ individuals.

The House of Representatives passed the Equality Act, which would explicitly ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing, education and other aspects of daily life.

U.S. Rep. French Hill (R-AR) on Feb. 25 led his colleagues in again launching the bipartisan Entrepreneurship Caucus and introduced a bill to analyze the underlying economic causes of America's startup slump.

Economic research shows that the rate of startup launches in the United States has fallen to a nearly 40-year low in all 50 states, in 360 metropolitan areas, and across a broad range of industries, according to Rep. Hill's office.

U.S. Rep. Bill Foster reintroduced legislation last week aimed at increasing transparency on corporate political spending by public companies for their investors and the public.

Foster's Shareholder Political Transparency Act would amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require public companies to make quarterly spending disclosures to their shareholders, according to a news release.