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Today Jaime Herrera Beutler voted in favor of the “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge”(STOCK) Act, a bill to prevent insider trading by Members of Congress.  Jaime cosponsored the STOCK Act initiative last November, and today it passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a bipartisan majority of 417-2.

“Today’s passage of the STOCK Act is in part due to my predecessor, Brian Baird, and his efforts to put this safeguard in place,” said Jaime.  “Just five months ago, folks were skeptical that the STOCK Act would ever see the light of day.  Today, I was proud to be part of a bipartisan majority to pass this important reform out of the U.S. House of Representatives.  Hardworking taxpayers deserve to know that their federal representatives live under the same laws that they do, and that the public good will always come before personal gain.  This law will provide that assurance.”

Background:

In November 2011, Jaime cosponsored the STOCK Act (H.R. 1148) that was introduced by Rep. Timothy Walz (D-MN).

Under today’s House-passed version of the STOCK Act, Members of Congress, their staff, and Executive Branch staff:

·         Are prohibited from buying or selling securities, swaps, or commodity futures based on nonpublic information they obtain through their jobs;

·         Cannot share non-public information about legislative action for purposes of investing or profiting from investment;

·         Are required to report investment transactions valuing in excess of $1,000 within 45 days.

This version also prevents Members of Congress, Executive Branch officials and their staffs from receiving special access to Initial Public Offerings due to their positions.  In addition, Members of Congress convicted of a crime would not receive taxpayer funded pensions.