How Lehigh Valley area lawmakers voted this week
H.R.4790 – Guiding Uniform and Responsible Disclosure Requirements and Information Limits Act of 2023
Voting 215 for and 203 against, the House on Thursday passed a bill that limits the disclosures required by issuers of securities as a result of a rulemaking and establishes the Public Company Advisory Committee.
First, the bill requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to limit issuer disclosure requirements made in a rulemaking. Specifically, the SEC must provide that an issuer of securities is only required to disclose information in response to a rulemaking if the issuer determines that this information is material with respect to a voting or investment decision regarding the issuer's securities.
The bill also requires the SEC to report on its website each required disclosure of nonmaterial information under current federal securities laws and regulations and a justification for the disclosure. The SEC must report this information to Congress every five years. The bill also establishes that a person's failure to disclose such nonmaterial information is not a liability in a private action.
Further, the bill establishes the Public Company Advisory Committee within the SEC. The committee must advise the SEC on regulatory priorities, public reporting and corporate governance of public companies, shareholder meetings and the proxy process, and other topics. The committee must be comprised of individuals who are officials of public companies, have senior managerial responsibility in associations that represent the interests of public companies, or provide professional advice and services to public companies.
Finally, the bill requires the SEC to report on the effects of the European Union's directives on corporate sustainability, particularly on U.S. companies, consumers and investors.
Yes: Brian Fitzpatrick, R-1st (Bucks, parts of Montgomery); Dan Meuser, R-9th (Schuylkill, parts of Berks)
No: Matt Cartwright, D-8th (most of Monroe); Madeleine Dean, D-4th (Montgomery, parts of Berks); Susan Wild, D-7th (Lehigh, Northampton, parts of Monroe and Carbon)
H.R.3724 – Accreditation for College Excellence Act of 2023
Voting 213 for and 201 against, the House on Thursday passed a bill that revises the requirements for an accrediting agency to be recognized by the Department of Education as a reliable authority on the quality of education being offered at an institution of higher education.
Specifically, an accrediting agency must confirm that its standards do not require, encourage, or coerce an institution of higher education to support, oppose or commit to supporting or opposing specific partisan, political or ideological viewpoints or beliefs or specific viewpoints or beliefs on social, cultural or political issues; or support or commit to supporting the disparate treatment of any individual or group on the basis of any protected class under federal civil rights law.
Additionally, an accrediting agency must confirm that its standards do not prohibit an institution of higher education from having a religious mission. The accrediting agency may not prohibit the institution of higher education from requiring an applicant, student, employee, or independent contractor to provide a statement of faith or adhere to a code of conduct.
The bill specifies that an institution of higher education shall be eligible to participate in federal student aid programs if the institution of higher education is in compliance with the standards of the accrediting agency that assesses the institution of higher education in accordance with statute.
Yes: Fitzpatrick, Meuser
No: Dean, Cartwright, Wild
H.R.7909 – Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act
Voting 266 for and 158 against, the House on Wednesday passed a bill that establishes that domestic violence crimes and sex offenses shall be grounds for making a non-U.S. national (alien under federal law) inadmissible and deportable.
The bill applies to any non-U.S. national who has admitted to or is convicted of acts constituting the essential elements of a crime of domestic violence or a sex offense, and includes conspiracy to commit a sex offense. (Under current law, convictions for certain crimes, including crimes of moral turpitude, are grounds for inadmissibility and deportability.)
Yes: Fitzpatrick, Meuser, Cartwright, Wild
No:
H.R.5179 – Anti-BDS Labeling Act
Voting 231 for and 189 against, the House on Wednesday passed a bill that provides statutory authority for the continuation of U.S. policy related to country of origin marking for imported goods that are produced in the West Bank or Gaza. Currently, such goods must carry specified markings that indicate their origin. Further, the bill prohibits the use of any funds made available to the Department of State or to U.S. Customs and Border Protection to rescind or change this policy.
Yes: Meuser, Fitzpatrick
No: Cartwright, Dean, Wild
H.R.5339 – Protecting Americans' Investments from Woke Policies Act
Voting 217 for and 206 against, the House on Wednesday passed a bill that generally requires fiduciaries of employer-sponsored retirement plans to make investment decisions based only on pecuniary factors (i.e., factors that a fiduciary prudently determines are expected to have a material effect on the risk or return of an investment based on appropriate investment horizons consistent with the plan's policies and objectives).
The bill allows nonpecuniary factors to be considered in certain situations, such as when selecting investment options for certain participant-directed retirement plans or if the fiduciary is unable to distinguish between investment alternatives on the basis of pecuniary factors alone.
Yes: Fitzpatrick, Meuser
No:Cartwright, Dean, Wild
H.R.1513 – FUTURE Networks Act
Voting 393 for and 22 against, the House on Wednesday passed a bill that requires the Federal Communications Commission to establish the 6G Task Force to report on sixth-generation wireless technology, including the status of setting standards for and possible uses of such technology. The task force shall be composed of representatives of trusted companies in the communications industry; trusted public interest organizations or academic institutions; and federal, state, local and tribal governments.
Yes: Meuser, Fitzpatrick, Cartwright, Dean, Wild
H.R.7213 – Autism CARES Act of 2024
Voting 402 for and 13 against, the House on Wednesday passed a bill that reauthorizes several programs that support autism education, research, and resources.
Specifically, the bill reauthorizes through FY2029 the Developmental Disabilities Surveillance and Research Program that is administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; activities administered by the Department of Health and Human Services to support autism education, early detection, and intervention; and the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee in the department.
It also updates and establishes various related reporting requirements, including by requiring the Government Accountability Office to report on how to increase the number of developmental-behavioral pediatricians through certain training programs.
Yes: Meuser, Fitzpatrick, Cartwright, Wild
H.R.9076 – Supporting America's Children and Families Act
Voting 405 yes and 10 against, the House voted on this bill Wednesday.
Yes: Meuser, Fitzpatrick, Cartwright, Wild, Dean
S.1146 – Find and Protect Foster Youth Act
Voting 408 for and 7 against, the House voted Wednesday on a bill that requires the Children's Bureau of the Office of the Administration for Children & Families to provide states, Indian tribes and tribal organizations with information, advice, educational materials and technical assistance relating to eliminating obstacles to identifying and responding to reports of children missing from foster care and other vulnerable foster youth.
Specifically, the bureau must evaluate the protocols that states and tribes have developed to comply with the reporting requirements for locating children missing from foster care and identify the best practices for providing such children with effective interventions.
Additionally, the bureau must provide assistance for assessing and screening children who were missing and returned to foster care and children who are, or are at risk of, being victims of sex trafficking.
Yes: Meuser, Fitzpatrick, Cartwright, Wild, Dean
S.2861 – Billie Jean King Congressional Gold Medal Act
Voting 308 for and 87 against, the House on Tuesday passed a bill that provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Billie Jean King in recognition of her courageous a groundbreaking leadership in advancing equal rights for women in athletics, education
and society.
