Companion Bill to Warren 21st Century Glass-Steagall Introduced in U.S. House; Kaptur Bill Gains Three New Co-sponsors

Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA) introduced a second Glass-Steagall bill (H.R. 3054) into the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday, which is an identical language companion bill to S. 1709, “The 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act” of Sens. Elizabeth Warren, McCain, Cantwell, and King. House co-sponsors of H.R. 3054 include Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), Katherine Clark (D-MA), and Ted Yoho (R-FL). If bills in both chambers have identical language, Congress can enact them without having a House-Senate Conference. In the last Congressional session, a companion bill to the Warren Glass-Steagall bill was also introduced, along with Rep. Kaptur’s “Return to Prudent Banking Act.

Three new co-sponsors have signed on to Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s H.R. 381, “The Return to Prudent Banking Act.” The first is Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD), whose co-sponsorship injects Glass-Steagall into the Democratic primary for the seat of retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, in which Rep. Chris van Hollen has also announced his candidacy but has not endorsed Glass-Steagall. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), the heiress to the Fisher Body/GM fortune, former chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, has also signed on, and Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), daughter of former Congressman Edward Roybal, who served as chair of the Democratic California Congressional delegation in 1997-1998. H.R. 381 now has 63 co-sponsors. It is expected that the Kaptur bill will remain the focus for co-sponsors.