Senate “memorials” are largely symbolic resolutions. But when Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, brought up a memorial Tuesday urging Congress to repeal the federal Dodd-Frank financial law, he touched off a lengthy — and partisan — fight.
The Republican-dominated Senate approved the memorial 27-12 on a party line vote, with Richter and other supporters saying regulations in the 2010 law have hurt small banks and the abilities of Florida businesses to get loans.
“Dodd-Frank was an inappropriate regulatory response to the panic of 2008,” said Richter, a banker.
But Democrats said the law includes needed consumer protections, such as a federal consumer protection bureau.
“You’re about to vote on something that you truly don’t understand,” Sen. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, told supporters of the measure.
At one point in the debate, Sen. Steve Oelrich, R-Cross Creek, blasted former U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Connecticut, and U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, R-Massachusetts, the namesakes of the law.
“These are the two architects of the financial crisis in our nation,” said Oelrich, who is expected to run for Congress this year.
