Pushing Rope: Good Idea of the Day

Senator Bill Nelson is sponsoring a legislation requiring bailout recipient to report how the money is spent.

"These guys have been living high-on-the-hog and now they’re subsidizing their lifestyle with public funds,” Nelson said, citing recent reports that just five big banks distributed $17 billion in dividends to shareholders after collectively receiving $100 billion in bailout money. "This practice has got to stop."

Nelson is one of the sponsors of the Troubled Asset Relief Program Transparency Reporting Act.

SEC. 4. REPORTING AND CERTIFICATION.

(a) Report- Each recipient of emergency economic assistance shall file with the Secretary of the Treasury on a quarterly basis--

(1) a detailed accounting of how emergency economic assistance is being used, including an explanation of how such funds have been allocated to stabilize financial markets and increase the availability of credit to consumers and businesses; and

(2) a certification that--

(A) no emergency economic assistance is being used for lobbying expenditures of political contributions in violation of section 2(b); and

(B) no emergency economic assistance is being used in violation of the guidelines issued by the Secretary of Treasury under section 3(a).

(b) Public Availability- Any report or certification filed under this section shall be made publically available by Secretary of the Treasury on-line, and at no cost.

SEC. 5. PENALTIES.

(a) Use of Funds- Any person that violates section 2(b) shall be subject to a civil fine of at least $100,000 per violation.

(b) Future Funding- Any person that fails to comply with section 2(b) or the guidelines implemented under section 3 shall not be eligible to receive any future emergency economic assistance unless the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Financial Stability Oversight Board, determines that reasonable steps have been taken to bring actions into compliance with and to prevent future violations of this Act.

(c) False Report- Any person that fails to file a report or certification required under section 4 shall be subject to a civil fine of at least $100,000.