Federal Spotlight – Senate Rolls Back Dodd-Frank
The United States Senate passed a bipartisan piece of legislation to exempt several dozen banks from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law. The bill was approved by a margin of 67-31. It would release many small- and medium-sized banks from onerous regulations and standards imposed by Dodd-Frank, which was signed into law in 2010 during President Obama's first term. The law was enacted as a reaction to the financial meltdown of 2008. The bill will now head to the House where its fate is uncertain. Conservative Republicans want to weaken Dodd-Frank even further than the bill that passed the Senate, but several moderate Senate Democrats have already indicated that they won't support a bill that further deregulates the banking industry.