At Least 51 New Poison Pill Riders Were Added to the Draft FSGG Bill in the House. Lawmakers Must Remove All of Them.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – At least 51 new poison pill policy riders were added to the draft Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill in the U.S. House, according to the Clean Budget Coalition, bringing the total number of new poison pill riders this cycle to at least 90.

Coalition members are calling on lawmakers to remove all of them and oppose passage of any legislation that includes these unpopular and controversial special favors for big corporations and ideological extremists. Below is a list of new poison pills added to the FSGG bill, organized by how they are targeted:

U.S. Department of the Treasury

  • The IRS Free Filing Prohibition Rider would prohibit the IRS from developing free tax filing software without prior approval from key financial committees in both chambers of Congress that would allow any taxpayer to file their taxes for free.
  • The Dollar Bill Rider would block the Treasury Department and the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing from redesigning the $1 bill.
  • The U.S. Mint Museum Rider would bar the U.S. Mint from constructing or operating any museum without approval from key financial committees in both chambers of Congress.
  • The Anti-Consolidation Rider would block consolidation of any or all functions of the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the U.S. Mint without approval from key financial committees in both chambers of Congress.
  • The COVID Report Rider would block all bonuses, raises, or promotions to employees of the Treasury Department until the secretary produces a COVID-19 National Emergency expenditure report.
  • The Cuba Travel Rider would prohibit the use of funds for non-education travel exchanges with Cuba.
  • The Cuba Travel Report Rider would require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Treasury Department to submit a report to Congress on Cuba travel.
  • The Crypto Rider would block the Treasury Department from issuing its own legitimate digital currency that might compete with scammy, privately issued cryptocurrencies. It also would block any hypothetical attempt to end the use of paper currency as legal tender in the U.S., which no one is trying to do.
  • The Shell Companies Rider would block the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network from issuing or implementing beneficial ownership reporting rules that would allow law enforcement to scrutinize shell companies that might be implicated in financial crimes and threats to national security.
  • The Mortgage Pricing Rider would block implementation of the single-family mortgage credit fee pricing framework used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The updated framework is intended to maintain support for single-family purchase borrowers limited by wealth or income, while ensuring a level playing field for large and small sellers, fostering capital accumulation, and achieving commercially viable returns.

U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

  • The Executive Order Cost-Benefit Analysis Rider would require any executive order issued or repealed to include a written statement with a cost-benefit analysis of its budgetary impacts if an order is expected to have a cost over $100 million.
  • The President’s Budget Request Rider would cut funding for the Office of the President by $52 million if the president is late in submitting the annual budget request.
  • The Administrative PAYGO Rider would block OMB from using funds to waive administrative pay-as-you-go rules for individual regulations.

U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

  • The CFPB Restructuring Rider would divest authority at the agency from its director and vest it in a five-member commission, two of whom must have private sector experience in the provision of consumer financial products and services.
  • The Small Business Lending Rider would prohibit the CFPB from using funds to implement Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires the collection of data on lending to women and minority-owned businesses to ensure fair lending practices.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

  • The Sleazy Car Dealers Rider would block the FTC’s Motor Vehicle Dealers Trade Regulation Rule, which prohibits car and truck dealers from making certain misrepresentations while selling, leasing, or arranging financing for motor vehicles. The rule would require accurate pricing disclosures in dealers’ ads and sales discussions, require them to obtain consumers’ express and informed consent for charges, prohibit the sale of any add-on product or service that confers no benefit to the consumer, and require dealers to keep records of ads and customer transactions.
  • The Defrauded Consumers Rider would add additional obstacles to an FTC rule that challenges bogus money-making claims used to lure consumers, workers, and prospective entrepreneurs into risky business ventures that often turn into dead-end debt traps. The rule allows the agency to recover redress for defrauded consumers and seek steep penalties against the multilevel marketers, for-profit colleges, gig economy platforms, and other bad actors who prey on people’s hopes for economic advancement.
  • The “Business Opportunity” Rider would add additional obstacles to an FTC rule that requires business opportunity sellers to give prospective buyers specific information to help them evaluate a business opportunity, ensuring that the prospective purchasers have the information they need to assess the risks of a work-at-home program or any other business opportunity.
  • The Food Marketed to Children Rider would add obstacles thwarting the completion of an interagency report on how food is marketed to children. The report is aimed at developing a range of voluntary, self-regulatory principles that industry can embrace to improve children’s health and nutrition.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

  • The Climate Disclosure Rider would prohibit the use of funds to finalize or enforce its proposed Climate Disclosure rule. That rule would require climate-related disclosures in corporate registration statements, periodic reports, and audited financial statements –including information about climate-related risks that are likely to have a material impact on their business, results of operations, or financial condition. This also would include disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions.
  • The Liquidity Risk Rider would block an SEC rule designed to improve liquidity risk management programs to better prepare funds for stressed conditions and improve transparency in liquidity classifications.
  • The Best Execution Rider would block an SEC rule aimed at establishing a best execution regulatory framework for brokers, dealers, government securities brokers, government securities dealers, and municipal securities dealers. Equities often trade on off-exchange dark venues that have different business models and are less transparent than the familiar lit exchanges. The rule would lead to better execution for retail and institutional investors.
  • The Order Competition Rider would block an SEC rule requiring certain orders of individual investors to be exposed to competition in fair and open auctions before such orders could be executed internally by any trading center that restricts order-by-order competition.
  • The Regulation NMS Rider would block an SEC rule that adopts variable minimum pricing increments for the quoting and trading of NMS stocks, reduces access fee caps, and enhances the transparency of better priced orders.
  • The Public Offering Rider would stop the SEC from compelling a private company to make a public offering.
  • The Client Assets Rider would block an SEC rule to strengthen safeguards for client assets over which an adviser has custody.

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)

  • The Community Navigators Rider would prohibit the SBA from further funding or transferring funds to the COVID–19 Community Navigators program, which helps ensure that small businesses in underserved and disadvantaged communities have access to federal relief programs.
  • The SBA Climate Rider would prohibit the SBA from funding climate change initiatives from its Salaries and Expenses account.

Other Agencies

  • The Gas Stoves Rider would prohibit the CPSC from using funds to stop the use or sale of gas-powered stoves, cooktops, ranges, or ovens in the U.S., even if the product is proven to cause harm.
  • The Trade Associations Rider would repeal the Federal Elections Commission’s prior approval requirement for corporate trade associations to set up political action committees, weakening political fundraising requirements.
  • The Federal Employee Health Benefits Rider would bar the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program from covering abortion services.
  • The Electric Vehicles Rider would block procurement of electric vehicles, electric vehicle batteries, electric vehicle charging stations, or related infrastructure.
  • The Anti-Greening Rider would stop implementation of Section 205 of Executive Order 14008, which calls for federal agencies to achieve net-zero emissions across their portfolio of buildings, campuses, and installations by 2045 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2032 by prioritizing improvement of energy efficiency and eliminating onsite fossil fuel use.
  • The CRT Rider would prohibit the promotion or advancement of Critical Race Theory.
  • The Diversity Executive Orders Rider would block implementation of all executive orders related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  • The Same-Sex Marriage Rider would prohibit retribution against any individual with a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as a union of one man and one woman – language that fuels discrimination. The language in this rider would require the government to continue to fund contractors, nonprofits, and other organizations that discriminate against LGBTQI+ people if they claim the reason for their discrimination is because of their belief that marriage is between a man and a woman.

Government-Wide Riders

  • The Misinformation Rider would restrict funds for labeling information as misinformation or working with companies to label misinformation, allowing lies to spread unchecked.
  • The Gender-Affirming Care Rider would prohibit funds for insurance plans in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program to cover the cost of surgical procedures, puberty blockers, or hormone therapy for the purpose of gender-affirming care.
  • The Anti-Voting Rider would block implementation of the Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting with certain exceptions, making it harder for people to vote.
  • The Federal Telework Rider would prohibit funding for federal agencies until they return to specified telework policies, practices, and levels.
  • The ESG Retirement Investing Rider would block the Thrift Savings Plan – a retirement savings and investment plan for federal employees and uniformed service members similar to a 401(k) in the private sector – from investing in mutual funds that consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria.

District of Columbia

  • The D.C. Anti-Abortion Rider would prohibit the use of local and federal funds for abortion services.
  • The D.C. Marijuana Rider would prohibit the use of local funds to legalize marijuana.
  • The D.C. Needle Exchange Rider would prohibit the use of funds for needle exchange programs.
  • The D.C. Contraception Religious Exemption Rider requires the District to allow health insurance companies to refuse to offer contraception based on religious or moral objections.
  • The Congressional Control Rider would mean the District cannot spend its own local funds without approval from Congress.
  • The D.C. Reproductive Discrimination Rider would prohibit funds to carry out the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act of 2014 or implement any rule related to it. That law ensures that individuals are protected from discrimination by an employer, employment agency, or labor organization based on their reproductive health decisions or those of a dependent.
  • The D.C. Abortion Report Rider would attack women’s health by requiring the District to submit a report to Congress on how it has complied with various abortion bans, including disclosure of any violations of the law that have taken place.
  • The D.C. Stoplight Rider would prohibit funds from being used to enact or carry out any law that prohibits motorists from making right turns on red.
  • The D.C. Automated Traffic Enforcement Rider would prohibit funds used by D.C. to implement automated traffic enforcement.
  • The D.C. Death with Dignity Rider would repeal the Death with Dignity Act, which allows terminally ill adults seeking to voluntarily end their life to request lethal doses of medication from licensed physicians in the District. It also would prohibit the District from passing similar legislation in the future.

Please reach out to speak with an expert on the Clean Budget Coalition’s work or specific riders listed here.

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