U.S. Representative Dave Joyce (R-OH-14) is encouraging fellow congresspersons to get behind a resolution he introduced to shield American industry from new disclosure requirements meant to advance leftist environmental policy.
Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed requirements for publicly traded companies to disclose information about the “climate-related risks that are reasonably likely to have a material impact on their business, results of operations, or financial condition….”
Joyce and his legislation’s cosponsors insist that corporate disclosures should conform to a strict definition of “materiality,” i.e., pertinency to a company’s financial and operational soundness. The lawmakers said they fear that the Biden Administration is pushing the SEC to go beyond its remit in requiring publicly traded corporations to provide their investors with accounting of their impacts on carbon emissions.
“The SEC was not established to micromanage the operations of U.S. companies based on social and political goals,” Joyce said in a statement. “I’m proud to introduce this resolution to denounce the weaponization of our securities laws and support the longstanding principles which guide the SEC’s disclosure regime. Adherence to the materiality standard has allowed our capital markets to flourish while ensuring investors have what they need to make informed decisions.”
Cosponsoring the resolution with Joyce are Representatives Bryan Steil (R-WI-1), Dusty Johnson (R-SD-At-large), Jeff Duncan (R-SC-3), Chris Stewart (R-UT-2), and Glenn Grothman (R-WI-6). They noted that the Securities Act of 1933 and its interpretation by the U.S. Supreme Court have instructed public companies to ensure that investors are aware of “material risks” the companies themselves face. They characterized the new information President Joe Biden hopes to have companies promulgate as extraneous for the purpose of investment decisions.
Should investors encounter lengthier disclosures that explicate companies’ impact on global warming, Joyce and his colleagues warned, they will find investment decisions more difficult to navigate and businesses, particularly those in the energy industry, will suffer.
Last month, twelve U.S. senators wrote jointly to Biden asking him to rescind his proposed SEC rule.
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Bradley Vasoli is managing editor of The Ohio Star. Follow Brad on Twitter at @BVasoli. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “David Joyce” by United States Congress. Background Photo “United States Capitol” by David Maiolo. CC BY-SA 3.0.
