Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
House Financial Services Committee advances broad slate of banking, housing and oversight measures
Loading...
Summary
The House Financial Services Committee on Feb. 27 advanced a package of bills aimed at strengthening community banking, improving bank-resolution tools and increasing regulatory transparency, and it extended the National Flood Insurance Program through Sept. 30, 2026. Multiple measures were reported to the House after recorded votes.
The House Committee on Financial Services voted Feb. 27 to advance a set of bills its leaders say will strengthen community and regional banks, improve tools for resolving failed banks, and increase oversight of regulators'international engagements.
Committee Chair opened the session by framing the markup as a push to "strengthen our banking system, expand access to credit, and reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens" and said the committee would advance both banking reforms and a bipartisan housing package.
Republicans and Democrats repeatedly described community banks as vital to rural and small-town economies. Representative Norman, sponsor of HR 65 36 (the Rural Depository Revitalization Study Act), said the bill "requires federal prudential regulators to jointly study ways to improve the growth, the capital adequacy, and profitability of rural depository institutions" and deliver a report to Congress within one year.
On resolution and oversight measures, the committee reauthorized an internal task force on monetary policy and Treasury-market resilience by voice vote and debated multiple study bills aimed at increasing bidder participation and competition in bank-resolution processes. Representative Flood, sponsor of HR 65 47 (the Least Cost Exception/Lease Cost Exception Act), said the bill would give the FDIC limited discretion to consider competition and concentration in rare cases when evaluating bids for failed institutions, while preserving guardrails such as a rulemaking to cap allowable additional cost to the deposit insurance fund.
A number of measures directed regulators to study or report on options that could expand participation in failure-resolution auctions, including proposals to examine "shelf" charters and modified bidder qualifications and to make de novo charters more transparent and measurable.
The markup also included several contentious policy debates. Members debated HR 11 81, the Protecting Privacy and Purchases Act, which would bar payment card networks and banks from creating merchant-category codes (MCCs) that single out firearms retailers. Ranking Member Waters strongly opposed the bill, arguing such codes can help identify suspicious purchase patterns linked to mass shootings; supporters argued the measure protects privacy and prevents a de facto purchase registry.
Votes at a glance
- HR 65 36, Rural Depository Revitalization Study Act (Norman): Substitute adopted; ordered favorably reported to the House (vote recorded: 50-0). - HR 65 47, Least Cost Exception Act (Flood): Substitute adopted; ordered favorably reported (50-0). - HR 65 55, Enhancing Bank Resolution Participation Act (Heisinger): Substitute adopted; ordered favorably reported (51-0). - HR 65 56, Failing Bank Acquisition Fairness Act (Lynch): Substitute adopted; ordered favorably reported (51-0). - HR 65 54, Community Bank Representation Act (Dela Cruz): Substitute adopted; ordered favorably reported (29-22). - HR 65 50, American First Act (Loudermilk): Substitute adopted; ordered favorably reported (29-23). - HR 11 81, Protecting Privacy and Purchases Act (Moore/Loudermilk): Amendment-in-nature-of-substitute adopted; ordered favorably reported (recorded vote 29-23). - HR 65 51, New Bank Act (Loudermilk): Substitute adopted; ordered favorably reported (53-0). - HR 55 77, NFIP Extension Act (Garbarino): Substitute adopted; ordered favorably reported (53-0). - Additional study and oversight bills (HR 65 70, HR 65 46, HR 65 53, HR 65 44, HR 65 52 and others) were adopted as amended and ordered reported by recorded votes (see committee report for full tallies).
Why it matters
Committee members framed the package as an effort to preserve community banking, increase competition in moments of bank distress, and improve regulatory transparency. Supporters said the measures will lower barriers for de novo banks and create more bidders to limit concentration following failures; critics said several bills would weaken guardrails and risk safety and soundness by rolling back regulatory protections.
What comes next
Bills reported favorably will be placed on the House calendar for consideration by the full chamber. Several recorded votes were postponed and completed during the session; members signaled further scrutiny on rulemaking details (for example, FDIC rulemaking to set thresholds under HR 65 47) as those agencies implement required tasks.
