In the debate over S. 2038, the “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge” (STOCK) Act, numerous amendments will be offered, many of which involve fiscal matters. At this point in the process we commend your attention to the following items; other Vote Alerts on S. 2038 may follow:
- Vote “YES” on Amendment 1498. Sponsored by Sens. Blumenthal (D-CT this amendmentwould greatly expand the circumstances under which Members of Congress may losetheir pensions for committing offenses of the law (including violationsoutlined in the underlying bill). According to our calculations, former Membersof Congress convicted of serious charges are eligible for pensions whosecombined yearly value is roughly $800,000. The amendment (which builds upon S.1261, the NTU-endorsed proposal from Sen. Kirk) would make a substantial steptoward protecting taxpayers from the insulting notion of being forced tosubsidize the retirements of disgraced Representatives and Senators.
- Vote “YES” on Amendment 1488. Introduced by Sen. DeMint (R-SC), this amendment wouldexpress support for a constitutional amendment to implement term limits for allMembers of Congress. Term limits would contribute to a consistent infusion ofnew ideas for addressing many of our fiscal challenges, while also looseningthe grasp of special interests over the decision-making process.
- Vote “YES” on Amendment 1492. Introduced by Sen. Tester (D-MT), this amendment would make it easierfor small businesses to go public by increasing the offering threshold forcompanies exempted from Securities and Exchange Commission registration underRegulation A of the Securities Act of 1933. The current threshold of $5 millionwas set in 1992 and has not been updated to reflect inflation or the changingneeds of small businesses. Sen. Tester’s proposal, modeled after others NTU hassupported, would raise the ceiling to $50 million to provide startups and othersmall-cap companies another avenue to raise capital.
Roll call votes on the aforementioned amendments will be significantly weighted in our annual Rating of Congress.
If you have any questions, please contact NTU Federal Government Affairs Manager Brandon Greife at(703) 683-5700