WASHINGTON, May 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. House approved a bill Friday that would force the Securities and Exchange Commission to review rules considered to be stalling job creation.
The SEC Regulatory Accountability Act, which attracted 17 votes from Democrats and locked-in approval from Republicans passed with a 235-161 majority, The Hill newspaper reported.
The law would force the SEC to study each new rule to assess its net effect on the labor market and to review past regulations to ensure the benefits outweighed the costs, the newspaper said.
"The American economy is hurting, and what we need is less government standing in the way of the private sector, not more," said Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.
"This act will bring about some common sense reforms by requiring the SEC to review existing regulations, as well as preventing new and unnecessary ones that would only continue to slow economic growth and hurt businesses and families."
Democrats said the bill was a slap in the face for the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul bill, which was written in response to the finance crisis that peaked in 2008-09..
"Let's be clear: The purpose of this legislative effort is to stop implementation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act dead in its tracks," said Maxine Waters, D-Calif.
At least one Republican, Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling of Texas acknowledged the bill was a reaction to the Dodd-Frank overhaul act, noting that the provision known as the Volcker rule, which restricts proprietary trading, was estimated, he said, to eliminate one million jobs.
Hensarling also said the new bill would force the SEC to comply with a presidential order that mandated cost-benefit analysis of new rules.
With the White House opposing the SEC bill, "The president says he wants to do it, he's jut not actually going to do it," Hensarling said.
Republicans also pointed out that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 2011 faulted the SEC for creating a a rule concerning shareholder rights in corporations without first providing a cost-benefit analysis.
