Some Democratic senators, warned that the House bill would weaken financial oversight. | AP Photos JOBS Act clears hurdle, faces others

The Senate moved forward Wednesday on a popular assortment of bills to roll back regulations targeting small businesses and startups.

But Democrats are reviving a push to add more oversight, which they argue is critical to protect investors from fraud. That could complicate the path forward, despite broad overall support among lawmakers and the White House.


The JOBS Act cleared a key procedural hurdle on a 76-22 vote. The package — six bills that would ease various Securities and Exchange Commission rules — is designed to make it easier for small businesses to raise capital.

“These bills on their own certainly won’t solve the jobs crisis,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said. “But they will make it a lot easier for entrepreneurs and innovators to get the capital they need to build businesses and create jobs.”

The JOBS Act passed the House by a 390-23 vote on March 8 and was backed by the White House – marking a rare point of agreement between congressional Republicans and the Obama administration on the economy during an election year.

But perhaps triggering another fight, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said after the vote that Democrats were adding two amendments intended to boost protections for investors. Republicans want the House version of the bill without any changes so it can head to the White House for President Barack Obama’s signature.

“I want everyone to know, the bill is imperfect and perhaps that is an understatement,” Reid said.

A handful of Democratic senators, including Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, warned for days leading up to Wednesday’s vote that the House bill would weaken financial oversight for consumers and investors – recalling the 2008 Wall Street collapse.

“This is not a bill which will allow new opportunities for American workers but one which will create new opportunities for fraudsters,” Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said on the Senate floor, adding that the legislation “carries the false label of a jobs bill.”

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), one of the loudest opponents of the JOBS Act, said the White House erred in publicly backing the House bill too quickly without sufficiently scrutinizing it.

“We all make mistakes,” she said. “I’ve made mistakes before. I mean, somebody made a mistake on this, and it should’ve gone through a committee.”