Economy

Mike has been deeply involved in efforts to stabilize our nation's economy as a member of the House Committee on Financial Services. He worked to meet a number of challenges to meaningful financial regulatory reform. Mike has long recognized the need for transparency when it comes to unregulated financial entities. In December of 2009 Mike voted for The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009, a comprehensive financial regulatory reform package. In May of 2010 the Senate passed a similar measure. The legislation was signed into law in July of 2010.

• He has filed legislation requiring hedge fund managers to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to improve federal oversight and provide more information to investors.
• He's working with his colleagues to ensure that credit rating agencies, which were a major contributor to the financial crisis, reasonably reflect the credit risk of financial products so that investors can make informed decisions. Mike is also pushing to make it easier to hold agencies liable for their actions when they don’t do their job responsibly.

Mike has long focused on affordable housing issues, and during the economic crisis he:

• Fought to ensure that Massachusetts' unique double and triple-decker houses receive the same benefits as single unit homes.
• Guaranteed that tenants were protected when Congress passed legislation earlier this year to help homeowners avoid defaulting on their mortgages. His amendment required that tenants be given 90 days notice before they must vacate a foreclosed home. Prior to Mike's proposal, tenants faced immediate eviction.

Mike voted in favor of establishing the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to help stabilize our economy and prevent a deepening financial crisis. At the time he described it as one of the most difficult votes he ever cast.

Mike felt strongly that doing nothing to prevent a recession that would result in massive job losses was not an option. He voted for TARP because he was not willing to risk Americans' pensions, investments and access to credit. Since the passage of TARP, the financial markets have displayed more confidence. When it comes to TARP and other emergency lending programs, Mike continues to speak out to the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department regarding the need to protect taxpayers.

In 2009, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to create and save millions of American jobs. Although Mike believed the bill relied too heavily on tax cuts, he voted for the overall stimulus package because he felt it would help with job creation and boost the economy. The bill provided funding for transportation, health care, education, scientific research and housing initiatives. Already over $5.2 billion has been made available to Massachusetts alone.

Mike is a long-time supporter of legislation to protect consumers from exploitative credit card company practices. With Mike’s support, Congress passed this legislation, which prohibits rate increases on preexisting balances, requires sufficient notification before increasing rates, and prohibits double charging on purchases already paid off. Mike also believes credit card issuers shouldn’t be allowed to arbitrarily raise interest rates on consumers. He is a leader on legislation to cap interest on credit cards at 16%.