House passes bipartisan INVEST Act, including Gottheimer bill targeting senior scams
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House on Thursday passed the bipartisan INVEST Act, legislation aimed at supporting small businesses, increasing access to capital, bolstering public markets and combating financial scams targeting seniors. The bill includes Rep. Josh Gottheimer’s Senior Security Act, which would establish a senior-focused investor protection task force inside the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“The bipartisan INVEST Act takes vital steps to give Jersey small businesses and start-ups the resources they need to grow and thrive, which is becoming increasingly important as costs continue to surge,” said Gottheimer, D-N.J., a member of the House Financial Services Committee. “This bill also includes my bipartisan legislation, the Senior Security Act, to protect our vulnerable seniors from fraudsters who seek to take financial advantage of them.”
Gottheimer pointed to the rising financial risks seniors face, noting that “millions of seniors across the country, including my own mother, have been the victims of financial scams, and this bipartisan legislation will help protect our seniors from having their hard-earned retirement savings stolen right out from under them.”
The FTC reported last week that the number of seniors who lost more than $100,000 to fraud increased more than fivefold between 2020 and 2024.
The INVEST Act includes several provisions intended to improve access to capital for small businesses by reducing regulatory barriers, updating outdated investment thresholds and directing capital formation opportunities beyond large financial centers. It also expands investment opportunities for retail investors and aims to make it easier for companies to go public and remain public by simplifying regulatory processes.
The Senior Security Act — now folded into the broader INVEST Act — would create a dedicated task force at the SEC charged with examining how seniors are targeted by fraud schemes. Every two years, the task force would submit a report to Congress outlining trends and innovations in financial scams, including techniques such as robocalls and voice spoofing.
