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House bill would expand the pool of people who can buy certain investments — if they can pass an SEC test
House bill would expand the pool of people who can buy certain investments — if they can pass an SEC test

CNBC

time6 days ago

  • Business
  • CNBC

House bill would expand the pool of people who can buy certain investments — if they can pass an SEC test

More consumers could gain access to investments typically reserved for the wealthy — provided they can pass a test from regulators — under proposed bipartisan legislation. The U.S. House of Representatives Monday approved a bill to expand the definition of who can qualify as a so-called "accredited investor" under federal securities laws. Accredited investors are permitted to invest in a wider range of assets, including pre-IPO companies, private credit and equity, venture capital and hedge funds. The Equal Opportunity for All Investors Act of 2025 would direct the Securities and Exchange Commission to create a test that individuals can take to qualify as an accredited investor, without regard to their wealth or income. Currently, to qualify as accredited, investors generally need an annual earned income of $200,000 for individuals, or $300,000 for married couples. Individuals or couples can also qualify with a total net worth of at least $1 million, not including the value of their primary residence. (Those thresholds are not pegged to inflation and haven't changed in decades; as a result, more households have become accredited over the years as wealth and incomes grow.) "In my view, wealth alone is not a particularly strong judge of whether someone should be an accredited investor, or not," Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., the bill's sponsor, said on the House floor. "A better one is whether someone has the knowledge to accurately weigh the benefits and risks of private offerings." The bill must still pass the Senate and be signed by the President before it can become law. Accredited investor rules are about consumer protection: The limits "ensure that all participating investors are financially sophisticated and able to fend for themselves or sustain the risk of loss," according to the SEC's Private securities are less liquid, harder to value and more volatile than publicly-traded assets, experts say. The bill asks that the SEC test be designed to determine whether an individual understands different types of securities, financial statements and risks associated with private assets, including their limited liquidity and disclosures, subjective valuations and longer investment horizons. "The exam created by this bill is meant to strike the right balance between rigorously testing for sophistication and not being set to such a difficult standard that even an intelligent investor could not pass it," Flood said. The proposal is also aimed at getting more money into the hands of start-up businesses. "Small business leaders say that it's not a lack of ideas, but a lack of capital that holds them back," Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., co-sponsor of the bill, said on the floor. "This bill opens up new sources of funding from a pool of investors more reflective of the community, so that these founders can turn their vision into jobs and economic growth."Companies are already gearing up for more investors to be qualified to participate in private markets. "I think this is really a great first step in terms of opening up what has otherwise been a walled garden," said Eric Satz, founder and CEO of Alto, a self-directed IRA platform. "We have to give everyone the opportunity to participate as if they were an ultra-high net worth investor or a large financial institution." Many financial advisors are lukewarm on private investments, and explore them with high-net-worth clients only after all the basics are covered. "I would argue that a lot of investors shouldn't go anywhere near this," said certified financial planner Catherine Valega, founder of Green Bee Advisory, a Boston-based financial advisory firm. "Probably 95% of the country doesn't even have an emergency savings fund, and now you're going to tell them, if they're smart enough, I can invest in private securities. That does not make sense to me."

Nebraska federal delegation lockstep on big Trump bill
Nebraska federal delegation lockstep on big Trump bill

Yahoo

time08-07-2025

  • Business
  • Yahoo

Nebraska federal delegation lockstep on big Trump bill

U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb, addresses a business forum in Ashland as, from left, Sen. Pete Ricketts, Rep. Adrian Smith, Rep. Mike Flood and Rep. Don Bacon listen. Aug. 29, 2024. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — Republican leadership on the Hill successfully wrangled enough Senate and House Republicans, including the Nebraska federal delegation, into supporting President Donald Trump's 'big beautiful bill.' The bill passed the U.S. House along party lines, 218-214, and will now be sent to the president to be signed into law. There was no political surprise from the all-Republican Nebraska federal delegation, who spent the week defending the GOP mega bill through national interviews on the Hill. 'We're delivering on President Trump's growth agenda,' Rep. Mike Flood, who represents eastern Nebraska's 1st District, told Fox Business. 'This is about growth.' The only two House Republicans to vote against the bill were Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie. Earlier this week, the GOP mega bill passed the Senate after an overnight session, with a tie-breaking vote by Vice President JD Vance. U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts have been interviewed about what they said is the importance of preserving Trump's tax cuts. In a trend, Nebraska's Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District Rep. Don Bacon vocally pushed back, expressing concerns about the Senate version of the bill's proposed cuts to Medicaid, emphasizing that he had received reassurances the bill would not degrade the quality of healthcare for people covered by Medicaid. He even said he won't support the Senate's reconciliation bill if it cut the Medicaid provider tax rate. But in the end, he voted for it. Bacon defended his vote, like the rest of the delegation, by emphasizing the preservation of the Trump tax cuts. 'I wish they had done the house … version,' Bacon told CNN, 'But I have an opportunity to protect taxpayers … from a 20% tax increase.' US House passes massive tax break and spending cut bill, sending it to Trump Rep. Adrian Smith, who represents Nebraska's largely rural 3rd District, said on the House floor, 'We're stopping a tax increase on the average middle class household.' Trump and Republican leadership in Congress successfully made their self-imposed deadline of July 4 to get the 'big beautiful bill' to the president's desk. Now the delegation will try to sell the bill to Nebraskans, as multiple polls indicate that Trump's signature piece of legislation is unpopular among Americans who are aware of it. The bill would make tax cuts from the first Trump administration permanent, cementing most of its benefits for high earners. It also introduces some new temporary tax breaks for workers earning less, boosts funding for immigration enforcement, starts funding Trump's 'Golden Dome' missile defense program and accomplishes other goals from Trump's domestic agenda. To offset the cost of the mega bill, the plan is to reduce spending on the social safety net by adding work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps. Also, by lowering provider taxes, a tax nearly every state uses to help fund Medicaid programs. Congressional experts have estimated that the package would add $3.253 trillion to the debt during the next decade. An analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office also estimates that 5.2 million adults would lose Medicaid coverage due to the stricter requirements, which are expected to save the federal government $280 billion over the next six years. The bill would require able-bodied people and working-aged individuals to show the government proof of employment to remain on the program every six months. For months, state lawmakers, left-leaning political advocacy organizations, medical professionals, activists and some everyday Nebraskans have expressed concerns about the 'disastrous' consequences of the mega bill's Medicaid cuts for healthcare access and to rural hospitals. Trump's mega bill includes $50 billion for rural hospitals as an attempt to offset Medicaid cuts, but according to KFF, a health research organization, analysis, those cuts could decrease Medicaid spending in rural areas by $155 billion over the next decade. In Nebraska, it's estimated that the state would lose between $3 billion and $5 billion in Medicaid federal funding over the next 10 years, according to KKF. The director of the Nebraska Rural Health Association stated that six rural Nebraska hospitals would likely close as a result. A rural hospital in southwest Nebraska, Curtis Medical Center, has already announced plans to close in the coming months because of the anticipated Medicaid cuts. 'Unfortunately, the current financial environment, driven by anticipated federal budget cuts to Medicaid, has made it impossible for us to continue operating all of our services, many of which have faced significant financial challenges for years,' Troy Bruntz, president and CEO of Community Hospital, said in a news release. Gov. Jim Pillen, shortly following the House vote, said in a statement that he believes Nebraska supports Trump's vision for 'the America First Agenda.' 'Nebraska's Congressional delegation deserves a lot of credit for working day and night to deliver policy that puts our state and country on a trajectory of great growth,' Pillen said. He said the legislation 'extends tax cuts for families, boosts our military, secures our border, and grows agriculture.' Jeremy Nordquist, president of the Nebraska Hospital Association, said, that Nebraska hospitals have been 'clear' throughout this debate: 'This package will undermine health care in our state, hurt patients, and drive up insurance premiums.' A Nebraska Appleseed spokesperson said the bill 'will cause irreparable harm to Nebraskans for decades to come.' The advocacy group said, for example, 40,000 Nebraskans are at risk of losing their Medicaid healthcare by imposing the work requirements. Nebraska Farm Bureau President Mark McHargue said Trump's mega bill is 'a win for Nebraska's farm and ranch families, and we look forward to continuing to work with our stellar congressional delegation on legislation to improve the lives of our state's food, fuel, and fiber producers.' Nebraska Republican Party chair Mary Jane Truemper said it's 'a win for everyone who believes in a strong work ethic, limited government, and opportunity for all.' Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb said the Republican Party has delivered a 'devastating' blow to that American's 'promise of opportunity.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Law Would Make Most National Weather Service Workers Hard to Fire
Law Would Make Most National Weather Service Workers Hard to Fire

New York Times

time06-06-2025

  • Climate
  • New York Times

Law Would Make Most National Weather Service Workers Hard to Fire

A bill introduced in the House of Representatives on Friday would make it harder to fire most employees of the National Weather Service and give the agency's director the authority to hire new staff directly, months after it lost nearly 600 employees to layoffs and retirements as part of the Trump administration's sweeping cuts to the federal work force. The Weather Workforce Improvement Act would designate certain positions within the agency as critical to public safety. The bill's sponsors say it would have protected meteorologists, as well as other roles within the agency, from the cuts this year. Those jobs include the people who specialize in hurricane forecasts and issue warnings about tornadoes and flash floods, as well as the employees who physically maintain things like weather models or launch weather balloons. 'Weather forecasting is not partisan,' said Representative Mike Flood of Nebraska, one of the bill's sponsors. 'Everyone supports the National Weather Service. Everyone relies on them, whether they realize it or not.' The Weather Service has suffered from short staffing for years, long before the Trump administration's cuts, but that became more severe this spring, as hundreds more employees began retiring or were forced out. At the same time, the country has faced a nonstop pace of deadly and expensive weather disasters, including the California wildfires, several tornado outbreaks and severe hailstorms. For the first time in the agency's history, some forecasting offices no longer had enough staff members to operate overnight, and others had to curtail the twice-daily launches of weather balloons, which collect data on atmospheric conditions that feed into forecast models. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

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