|  After an historic battle in Congress, yesterday President Obama signed financial reform legislation into law.
Hailed as "most sweeping finance rules since the Great Depression," the legislation has taken almost a year to move through Congress, though many advocates would say it was decades in the making. The legislation achievd many breakthroughs, while also offering the necessary compromises to usher it through a divded Senate. The legislation enacts a vast range of regulatory shifts, including putting new controls on the derivatives market, setting controls on payday loans and other predatory lending systems, and perhaps most importantly, creating of a new office of Consumer Financial Protection. Here's a great overview of what financial reform legislation will actually do. The victory can be attributed in part to an unprecedented coalition effort of Americans for Financial Reform which brought together business, advocacy groups, and faith organizations into one of the largest and most powerful advocacy coalitions in years. At the helm was Heather Booth, a co-founder of Jewish Funds for Justice and graduate of our Selah Leadership Progream. [shameless plug, Selah is forming a new executive cohort. Want to the next Heather Booth?" Apply today. What will be next on the President's agenda? Energy legislation? Immigration reform? A new supreme court justice? Keep'm coming! |
