A New York organization is spending about $70,000 on ads to attack U.S. Rep. French Hill for supporting a rollback on banking regulations.
The ads start running today. They will appear on a variety of central Arkansas TV stations and online.
The legislation, called the Financial CHOICE Act, would allow banks to exempt themselves from some Dodd-Frank regulations so long as they maintain a high enough level of cash. Dodd-Frank was a regulatory overhaul of the financial system enacted in 2010 after the economic crisis.
The legislation also would rename the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau the "Consumer Financial Opportunity Commission," replace its director and end its authority to ban bank products it deems abusive, among other provisions.
Stacey Mink, national media manager for the New York-based Working Families Organization and Working Families Party, said the Working Families Party Independent Expenditure Committee is "running television and digital ads to let voters know that French Hill, who is a member of the House Financial Services Committee, is supporting legislation that works against their interests and in favor of Wall Street."
The Arkansas ad buy is part of a larger campaign against the legislation. The group is spending $300,000 total against Hill, Rep. Sean Duffy of Wisconsin and Rep. Scott Garrett of New Jersey. Like Hill, both Duffy and Garrett are Republicans and members of the House Financial Services Committee.
In a statement, Hill said: "As a local businessman and community banker in Arkansas I have worked tirelessly to bring common sense solutions that help families and businesses have access to free checking and credit for expansion, homes and everyday expenses denied them by the Dodd-Frank Act and it's unconstitutional, big government Consumer Bureau.
"Liberal outside special interest groups can t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶t̶f̶u̶l̶l̶y̶ falsely* attack me all they want, but I will continue fighting to empower Arkansans to start and grow businesses, creating jobs and o̶p̶p̶o̶r̶t̶u̶n̶i̶t̶i̶e̶s̶ opportunity for all."
Hill is vying for re-election against Dianne Curry, a Democrat, and Chris Hayes, a Libertarian. The incumbent founded Delta Trust and Banking Corp. He also was a deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury under President George H.W. Bush.
Mink referred questions to Arkansas Community Organizations, which organizes low-income and working families in Arkansas, according to its website.
"This is the first agency designed to protect consumers of financial products," Executive Director Neil Sealy of the Arkansas group said of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "Given what we went through with the recession, with this whole mortgage lending scam, it's definitely needed in this country."
In a previous interview, Hill said he supported Dodd-Frank reform because of negative impacts on smaller banks.
The federal government shouldn't be "burdening small business or community banks with mistakes made by a handful of Wall Street firms," Hill said. "It's the responsibility of Congress to establish that balance."
As a member of the House Financial Services Committee, he said he was proud to help investigate Wells Fargo, where employees opened several million fake accounts, as well as how terrorists finance their operations.
Metro on 10/26/2016
*CORRECTION: U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., said in part of attack ads running against him in his bid for re-election, “Liberal outside special interest groups can falsely attack me all they want, but I will continue fighting to empower Arkansans to start and grow businesses, creating jobs and opportunity for all.” This article misquoted Hill.