Invest Act divides committee: backers tout expanded access to capital, critics warn of risks to retirement savers

Representative Huizinga (Financial Services) presented HR 3,383, the Invest Act, as a bipartisan package of capital-formation reforms intended to expand access to private markets, index investment thresholds to inflation, create an exam pathway for would-be accredited investors and permit certain registered vehicles to widen retirement-saver access.

"Capital and access to it is the lifeblood for growth and expansion in our economy," the sponsor said, arguing the number of publicly traded companies has halved over two decades and that regulatory barriers have contributed to that decline. Supporters told members the Invest Act includes many previously bipartisan measures designed to help entrepreneurs raise local capital and to modernize investor definitions.

Ranking Member Waters strongly opposed the bill in its current form. She described three provisions she called "poison pills": (1) a change she said would remove critical federal protections for many 403(b) retirement accounts by reducing broker-dealer and SEC oversight; (2) a requirement to deliver documents digitally that would disadvantage seniors who prefer paper; and (3) a change that would increase sales of private assets to retail investors without adequate transparency and oversight. Waters urged the committee to adopt amendments or oppose the bill.

The exchange was unresolved: proponents insist the reforms expand opportunity, preserve appropriate safeguards and include a senior-investor task force; opponents said the package gives Wall Street new avenues to sell higher-fee, less-transparent products to everyday savers.