Honorable Jeb Hensarling, Chairman
Committee on Financial Services
U.S. House of Representatives
2129 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Hensarling:
On behalf of the state and local elected and appointed officials that our national organizations represent, we understand that you intend to reintroduce legislation in the 115th Congress similar to H.R. 5983, the Financial CHOICE Act from last Congress that would repeal and amend provisions from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, Pub. L. 111-203 (2010), (“Dodd-Frank Act”). We urge you to exclude language in the reintroduced CHOICE Act that would repeal section 978 of the Dodd-Frank Act that established an independent and predictable funding mechanism for the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB).
As you know, the GASB establishes U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for state and local governments. Independent funding for GASB is central to the integrity of GAAP. Since 2010, taxpayers and investors have benefited from a predictable funding stream without the potential conflicts of interests, real or perceived, that arose previously from the GASB having to solicit voluntary contributions.
We support the GASB’s important work on GAAP and its need for predictable and independent funding, and we are happy to meet with you to discuss the need for a predictable funding mechanism.
Sincerely,
National Governors Association, David Parkhurst
National Conference of State Legislatures, Max Behlke
Council of State Governments, Andy Karellas
National Association of Counties, Daria Daniel
National League of Cities, Brett Bolton
The United States Conference of Mayors, Larry Jones
International City/County Management Association, Elizabeth Kellar
Government Finance Officers Association, Emily Swenson Brock
National Assn of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers, Cornelia Chebinou
National Association of State Treasurers, John Provenzano
