Congress Wants to Publicly Fund Lobbyists at the SEC
House Democrats worked with the GOP to advance a bill establishing a publicly funded corporate lobbying committee within the Securities and Exchange Commission. Several lawmakers pushing the bill are heavily funded by businesses overseen by the regulator.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) was one of nine Democrats to vote with the GOP to pass the Public Company Advisory Committee Act of 2026 in the House Financial Services Committee. (Bill Clark / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
House Democrats just helped their GOP colleagues advance a bill establishing a taxpayer-supported corporate lobbying committee within Wall Street’s top regulatory agency, whose only purpose would be to give an even greater voice to pro-corporate and big business concerns.
Several of the lawmakers pushing the bill are heavily funded by businesses overseen by the regulator, including investment giants that have been sued by the agency.
The bill, called the Public Company Advisory Committee Act of 2026, passed the House Financial Services Committee on January 22 with nine Democrats — representatives David Scott (GA), Jim Himes (CT), Bill Foster (IL), Josh Gottheimer (NJ), Vicente Gonzalez (TX), Ritchie Torres (NY), Brittany Pettersen (CO), Janelle Bynum (OR), Sam Liccardo (CA) — voting with the Republicans.
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