The national conversation is very much focused (rightly so) on gun safety. But that is NOT what the Senate is doing next week. Instead, they're having a totally unrelated vote to de-regulate big banks and let racial discrimination in mortgage lending go unchecked. 1/
On the heels of the massive giveaway to wealthy, corps, and big banks (the #GOPTaxScam), this is a follow-up giveaway that would let two dozen of the country's biggest banks escape regulation and put us at risk of another financial crisis. indivisible.org/resource/repub… 2/
The bill fits perfectly into the Trump playbook of enriching the rich and tilting the playing field further away from the middle class in favor of big banks and corporations. The middle class loses again, and it gets further out of reach for families working to get there. 3/
One key provision of the bill: it opens the door again to redlining, a discriminatory practice that lets banks lock out communities of color from homeownership. It is a historical driver of the racial wealth gap and it's about to get a lot worse. 4/
That's because the bill eliminates a requirement for the vast majority of banks that they collect data under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). This data helps regulators identify patterns of racial discrimination and take action to stop it. 5/
In 2014, the CFPB used this data to investigate possible redlining at Hudson City Savings Bank. Hudson City settled the lawsuit that followed for $33 million, the largest such settlement in the history of DOJ/CFPB. motherjones.com/politics/2018/… 6/
But most banks will no longer have to collect that data. Which means regulators won't have it available to investigate discrimination. That puts economic opportunity even further out of reach for communities of color. 7/
The bill raises the threshold for which banks get extra federal oversight from $50 billion to $250B in assets, a 5x increase! 3 financial institutions that failed during the crisis were all UNDER $250B (Countrywide, National City, GMAC). This puts us at risk of a repeat. 8/
How bad was the financial crisis in your state? Find out here. For example, Michigan had over 530,000 mortgage delinquencies in 2009. The financial crisis was caused in large part by the lax oversight we'd return to under this bill. americanprogress.org/issues/economy… 9/
Sadly, 12 Democrats have signed up to help pass this terrible bill in the name of helping "community banks." Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs get new legal footing to challenge federal oversight. Are they "community banks"? 10/
Looking like the first procedural vote on this will be Tuesday of next week (but that could change). Fight back NOW by calling your Senator and telling them NOT to hand Wall Street a #GOPTaxScam follow-up giveaway. Tell them to oppose S. 2155. indivisible.org/resource/repub… 11/11
