Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, announced that the House of Representatives passed ten bipartisan bills under suspension of the rules. This is a procedure generally used to quickly pass bills which enjoy broad, bipartisan support. Next, these bills will await a vote in the Senate.
H.R. 3422, the “Promoting Opportunities for Non-Traditional Capital Formation” Act is a bill offered by Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), that would require the SEC’s Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation to (1) provide educational resources and host events to promote capital-raising options for underrepresented small businesses and businesses in rural areas, and (2) meet annually with representatives of state securities commissions.
HR 2225, the “Access to Small Business Investor Capital Act” is a bill offered by Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA), that would amend federal securities laws to allow registered investment companies (i.e., mutual funds) to omit a Business Development Company’s “acquired fund fees and expenses” while still continuing to disclose the Business Development Company’s management fees and other expenses similar to the treatment of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).
H.R. 910, “the Taiwan Non-Discrimination Act of 2025” is a bill offered by Representatives Al Green (D-TX), and Young Kim (R-CA), that would require the U.S. to “vigorously support” Taiwan’s membership and meaningful participation in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the extent that admission is sought by Taiwan. It also declares that the U.S. may not discourage or deter Taiwan from seeking such membership. The bill further requires that the U.S. advocate for Article IV consultation activities in Taiwan, 2 employment opportunities at the IMF for Taiwan nationals, and training and technical assistance for Taiwan from the IMF. Congressional testimony from the Secretary of the Treasury regarding the international financial institutions (IFIs) would need to include a description of the efforts to support Taiwan’s membership at each institution, in each of the next seven years. The bill has a sunset 10 years from enactment or when the Board of Governors at the IMF admits Taiwan to the Fund; whichever comes first.
H.R. 3394, the “Fair Investment Opportunities for Professional Experts Act” is bill offered by Representative French Hill (R-AR), that would expand the definition of “accredited investor” to include individuals with certain licenses and qualifying education or job experience, such as MBA grads or those with FINRA certifications (like those who have passed the Series 7 general securities representative exam, for example).
H.R. 3381, “the Encouraging Public Offerings Act of 2025” is a bill offered by Representative Ann Wagner (R-MO), that would allow any issuer to (1) file a confidential draft registration statement; and (2) “test the waters” (i.e., communicate with potential investors before a registration statement is filed).
H.R. 3301 “ELEVATE Act of 2025” is a bill offered by Representative Zach Nunn (R-IA), that would update the emerging growth company (EGC) financial statement requirements to clarify that an EGC may present two years, rather than three years, of audited financial statements in both IPOs and spin-off transactions. The bill allows a spin-off of an EGC to benefit from the two-year financial statement accommodation, which is currently only available during an IPO. When a company creates a new independent company by selling or distributing new shares of its existing business, this is called a spinoff; companies often create spinoffs expecting that it will be worth more as an independent entity. The bill also would allow any issuer (i.e., a public company) to ask the SEC to review their registration statements confidentially.
H.R. 1190, the “Expanding Access to Capital for Rural Job Creators Act” is a bill offered by Representative Troy Downing (R-MT), that would require the SEC’s Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation (OASB) to report on capital access issues faced by rural small businesses. Currently, the OASB’s list of covered entities are minority-owned, women-owned, and disaster-stricken small businesses; this bill simply adds rural small businesses to the list of covered entities the Office will report on.
H.R. 3352, the “Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act of 2025” is a bill offered by Representative Mike Lawler (R-NY), that would define an angel investor for purposes of the federal securities laws and also clarifies the definition of general solicitation contained in the Securities Act to ensure that startups can discuss their products and business plans at certain events (known as “demo days”) without such discussions being considered an investment offering.
H.R. 1713, the “Agricultural Risk Review Act of 2025” is a bill offered by Representative Frank Lucas (R-OK), that would amend the Defense Production Act of 1950 to include the Secretary of Agriculture as a member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) for transactions related to the agriculture industry. The bill would also require CFIUS to determine whether a national security review is needed upon a notification from the Secretary of Agriculture of a determination that a covered agricultural land transaction could threaten national security.
H.R. 2808, the “Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act” is a bill offered by Representative Ryan Rose (R-TN), that would curtail so-called mortgage loan “trigger leads” where after a consumer applies for a mortgage loan with one company, a credit reporting agency (CRA) provides that consumer's credit report to a third-party company for the purposes of offering that consumer a mortgage loan offer. The bill prohibits most trigger leads, only allowing them in limited circumstances such as when a consumer consents to their information being shared with the third-party company, or if the third-party company is the consumer’s current mortgage lender, current mortgage servicer, or an insured depository institution that the consumer currently has an account with. The Senate passed a similar bill earlier this month by unanimous consent.
