OKLA. CITY —
Eight states Wednesday joined Oklahoma, South Carolina and Michigan in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Dodd-Frank financial act.
The state attorneys general are challenging Title II of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which creates the “Orderly Liquidation Authority.” It gives singular power to the Treasury Secretary to liquidate banks with only 24 hours’ notice and with no notice to creditors, including managers of state pension funds.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt said Dodd-Frank shatters some of the most important rights citizens have in the marketplace and threatens states’ and citizens’ investments.
“Our taxpayers could bear enormous burdens in making up for lost assets that were intended for retired state employees or to otherwise fund government services and infrastructure,” Pruitt said. “The law puts at risk the pension contributions and tax dollars that the people have entrusted us to protect.”
The Dodd-Frank Act was passed in 2010 as a sweeping financial overhaul designed to “fix” the financial crisis.
In September, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Michigan joined a lawsuit originally filed in June by a community bank, senior citizens advocacy group, and non-profit public policy group.
The original lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenges the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the appointment of CFPB Director Richard Cordray without Senate advice and consent, and the constitutionality of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.
On Wednesday, Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Texas and West Virginia joined the challenge to the Orderly Liquidation Authority in an amended complaint.
The private and state plaintiffs want the court to invalidate Dodd-Frank because of what the plaintiffs call unprecedented, unchecked power the law gives the federal government, and the unforeseen damage it will do to America’s fragile economy and taxpayers’ wallets.
“Dodd-Frank replaces the rule of law with the rule of politics,” South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said. “The new regulations do not stabilize our economy, they create greater uncertainty. As a result, states cannot allow our taxpayers, our investments or the Constitution to be subject to such financial risk.”
Montana Attorney General Tim Fox said the federal law is an alliance of big government and big business — Pennsylvania Avenue subsidizing Wall Street and suffocating Main Street.
“Montana’s community banks didn’t cause the 2008 financial crisis, but Dodd-Frank punishes them and our citizens who depend on them for credit to purchase a home, start a business, or go to college,” Fox said. “It cements the ‘too big to fail’ approach and helps the biggest banks at the expense of consumers.”
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said his state is challenging Dodd-Frank because it gives too much power to the federal government and puts taxpayer dollars at risk.
Under the law, unelected federal bureaucrats are empowered to unilaterally liquidate financial institutions in which the state invests taxpayer dollars, Abbott said. It deprives the state of basic due process rights and places taxpayers’ resources at risk, he said.
State News
Oklahoma, other states challenge federal financial law
- State News
-
-
At 81, Oklahoma alumnus finally attends graduation
Harold Newland, 81, participated in commencement at the University of Oklahoma on Friday and got a new copy of the accounting degree he earned nearly 55 years ago. Newland missed graduation after earning the degree and has thought of returning to Norman ever since.
-
Oklahoma State Senate approves changes to A-F school grading system
The full Senate voted to improve and reform Oklahoma’s A-F grades for public schools. Sen. Clark Jolley, the original author of the A-F legislation, said the idea was to help parents more easily understand how their children’s schools were doing.
-
Disaster dollars
Gayland Kitch doesn’t feel a bit sheepish about not having a storm cellar, even though he is the director of emergency management in Moore, Okla., which faced one of the most violent tornadoes on record, with wind speeds greater than 300 mph, in May 1999.
It isn’t that Kitch is resisting the $3,000 or so it would take to build. It’s that during tornado weather, he’s not home. He’s at the office, which has its own shelter. His wife is there, too, volunteering. When their kids lived at home, they came, as well. -
OMRF announces $10 million cancer research campaign
A person’s lifetime risk of getting cancer is about 1 in 2. Last year, about 1.6 million Americans were diagnosed with cancer, including more than 19,000 Oklahomans.
-
Feds approve Oklahoma’s request for winter storm aid
Gov. Mary Fallin announced this week the federal government has approved the state’s request for federal aid related to the Feb. 24-26 winter storm.
The declaration delivers public assistance to municipalities, counties and rural electric cooperatives for eligible infrastructure repairs and costs associated with responding to the storm. -
Couple charged in burning, bruising of McAlester toddler
A McAlester couple faces felony child abuse and neglect charges after officials this week found burns and bruises on the body and head of their 2-year-old son.
Kyle Daniel Hoppe, 31, and Destiny Hope Kelley, 20, of McAlester, was charged March 27 in Pittsburg County District Court. Hoppe is charged with felony child abuse by injury and child neglect. Kelley is charged with felony enabling child abuse by injury and child neglect. - Northwestern invites freshmen to April 17 event
-
State seeks disaster declaration for February snow storm
Gov. Mary Fallin announced Thursday the state of Oklahoma has requested a major disaster declaration from the federal government related to the Feb. 24-26 winter storm.
-
Officials looking for man who called in Tahlequah bomb threat
Several hundred people were evacuated from the Cherokee County Courthouse Wednesday morning, just before 9, after a man called in a bomb threat.
The caller phoned the courthouse and ended up talking with Laura Hendricks, a deputy clerk in the County Clerk’s Office. Hendricks said the man told her he was “tired of paying [his] f---ing fines” and then claimed there was a bomb in the courthouse.
Hendricks said she notified a safety manager, and a panic button in the courthouse was then pushed to notify other offices of the threat. -
Limited tickets still available for Chefs’ Feast
Limited tickets are still available to “Tune in to Fight Hunger” at the 26th annual Chefs’ Feast this Thursday from 6-9 p.m. at the National Cowboy Heritage & Western Museum. Enjoy culinary creations, which are designed to follow the event’s television theme, from 26 of the metro’s best restaurants. Proceeds from the food and wine tasting event benefit the Regional Food Bank’s Food for Kids childhood hunger programs.
- More State News Headlines
-
