Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2013 - 2014 Regular Session

Posted:	July 31, 2013 03:55 PM
From:	Senator Mike Folmer
To:	All Senate members
Subject:	Resolution Calling for Reinstatement of Glass-Steagall

Shortly, I plan to introduce the attached Resolution, which calls upon Congress to reinstate the provisions of the Glass-Steagall Act in place of the Dodd-Frank Act. The stock market crash of 1929 prompted the 1933 Banking Act, known as the Glass-Steagall Act. For over 60 years, Glass-Steagall essentially balanced the financial markets of the United States by separating commercial banking and investment banking. This allowed the investment side of the banking industry to operate under the dictates of the free market. More importantly, under Glass-Steagall Act, taxpayers were not made responsible for bailing out private entities: Glass-Steagall protected the holdings of the individual taxpayer, not the risks taken by private organizations. The wall between Commercial and Investment banking stood for a solid 60 years; 60 years of relative financial stability. However in 1999, the Gramm-Leach-Bilely Act tore down this wall, resulting in financial institutions that were too big to fail. Had they failed, they would have brought down the entire economy with them. I believe my Resolution protects the middle-class by urging Congress to again separate commercial and investment banking by repealing Dodd-Frank and getting back to the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. Thank you. Attachment
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Introduced as SR188