Gillen Votes Against Stop Insider Trading Act, Calls It ‘Riddled With Loopholes’

WASHINGTON, DC — Congresswoman Laura Gillen blistered the Stop Insider Trading Act Thursday, calling the bill that recently gained House approval “riddled with loopholes” and charging that House Republicans had added “extreme voter restrictions” to the bill before voting.

The House of Representatives passed HR 7008, also known as the “Stop Insider Trading Act,” Wednesday, moving the bill on to the senate by a 232-198 vote that was almost entirely along party lines. Among the Nay voters were Gillen and her Nassau colleague Tom Suozzi (D-NY3), while Suffolk County representatives Andrew Garbarino and Nick LaLota joined the rest of the Republican house majority in voting to pass the bill.

The opening sections of the bill outline an effort to prevent members of congress from engaging in insider trading, requiring that members of congress file advanced notice of any stock sales they plan to make, including in that notice the expected date of the sale, a description of the sale and the number of shares they plan to move.

“No [member of congress] shall sell a covered investment, unless a notice of intent to sell the covered investment is made by the Member of Congress and publicly disclosed at least calendar days, and no more than 14 calendar days, prior to the sale in accordance with the requirements of this subsection,” the bill reads.

The bill defines a “covered investment” as “a security issued by a publicly traded company or any comparable economic interest acquired through synthetic means, such as the use of a derivative, including an option, warrant, or other similar means.”

In the 4th-district representative’s view, that effort isn’t sufficient to stop the behavior it targets.

“Despite its misleading title, this bill does not actually ban members’ stock trading outright and is riddled with loopholes that would still allow them to buy cryptocurrency, mutual funds, and commodities,” Gillen said. “It leaves the door open for members to own and sell stocks in industries they directly regulate and use non-public information for personal gain.”

On the enforcement front, the bill says members of congress who violate the trading rule would have to pay a fee of either $2,000 or 10 percent of the value of the sale a representative makes, whichever is greater, and the net gain they saw from the investment.

While she called the bill a “blatant political stunt” Thursday, Gillen said she supported banning members of congress from trading stocks.

"For too long, the status quo has allowed Members of Congress to continue trading stocks on the job, creating blatant conflicts of interest and allowing insider trading,” Gillen said. “Elected officials should never be allowed to leverage their positions to game the market and enrich themselves.”

Also giving Gillen pause Thursday was a third section of the bill, labeled “Requiring Voters To Provide Photo Identification.”

That section of the bill would amend 2002’s “Help America Vote Act,” adding a section that bars state and local election officials from providing a ballot “for an election for Federal office to an individual who desires to vote in person unless the individual presents to the official a valid physical photo identification.”

In statements made Thursday, Gillen called the ID requirement a “tax on voting.”

“House GOP leadership shamefully inserted extreme voter restrictions into this bill. Only American citizens should vote in American elections, as is the law,” Gillen said. “These restrictions would essentially create a tax on voting, burden voters with red tape, and make it harder for millions of eligible Americans to access the ballot box.”

Having cleared the house, the Stop Insider Trading Act will move ahead to the U.S. Senate. The full bill is available to read here.