Every week at All Saints Church we put our faith into action. This week our focus is on restoring the Dodd-Frank Act‘s federal bank regulations in the wake of the largest bank failures since the 2008 financial crisis, which could have been avoided had the government not rolled back those federal bank regulations.
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) — the 16th largest bank in the U.S. — was shut down and taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on Friday, March 10th. Forty-eight hours later New York state regulators closed Signature Bank.
The Dodd-Frank Act was enacted to ensure that large banks could never again send the economy into free-fall and eradicate trillions of dollars of consumer wealth. One of the ways they did this was by placing a threshold on banks considered to be “systemically important” — banks with $50 billion in assets. By being labeled as “systemically important”, banks are required to follow a stricter set of regulations — including annual stress testing. In May 2018, then-President Donald Trump signed legislation to lift this critical threshold from $50 billion to $250 billion. One of the most ardent supporters of this change was Greg Becker — the CEO of Silicon Valley Bank.[1]
The weakening of provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act was a bipartisan effort. Silicon Valley Bank not only lobbied for the changes, but they made hefty donations to both Democrats and Republicans in support of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act.[2]
Congress must now go back and correct its mistakes in order to protect consumers and regain the public’s trust in our financial system.
[1] SVB CEO Greg Becker lobbied the government to relax some Dodd-Frank provisions on regional lenders in 2015. Trump did in 2018.
[2] SVB Chief Pressed Lawmakers To Weaken Bank Risk Regs
Options to Take Action:
- Sign a letter at the Action Table on Sunday.
- Download, sign and mail an action letter to your members of Congress.
Letter for California residents Letter for residents of other states - Go to the Patriotic Millionaires website and participate in the action there.
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ADDITIONAL ON-LINE ACTIONS
- Louis DeJoy is still Postmaster General. And he’s still rolling along with his plan to dismantle the USPS and sell off the parts to his billionaire buddies. The USPS Board of Governors exists to stop schemes like this. They’re the only ones who can replace DeJoy. Send them a message urging them to dump DeJoy and his 10-year plan to privatize the postal service.
- The Biden administration has proposed a rule that could improve access to contraceptives for people whose employer or university objects to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirement that contraception be covered in health insurance plans. This proposed rule gets rid of the Trump administration’s sweeping moral exemption that allowed any employer to deny this critical coverage for any reason. Rescinding this exemption will help ensure people have the no-cost coverage that allows them to plan when they have children. Everyone Deserves Access to the Birth Control They Need Without Barriers
You can still assist with Turkey/Syria earthquake relief with a financial contribution. Episcopal Relief & Development is partnering with Action by Churches Together (ACT Alliance).
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If you ever need to look up your member of the U.S. House of Representatives or your U.S. Senators check here: www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.
To find contact information for your California State Senator or California State Assemblymember check here: www.senate.ca.gov and www.assembly.ca.gov.
Take Action
Every week at All Saints Church we put our faith into action. This week our focus is on restoring the Dodd-Frank Act‘s federal bank regulations in the wake of the largest bank failures since the 2008 financial crisis, which could have been avoided had the government not rolled back those federal bank regulations.