A bipartisan group of House members on Wednesday unveiled a bill to bar lawmakers and their families from trading or owning individual stocks, a much-anticipated compromise that some conservatives and liberals say their colleagues can get behind.
The legislation, dubbed the Restore Trust in Congress Act, is an amalgamation of other bills that have been introduced to limit or ban stock trading by members of Congress and their immediate family members.
The bill would not only bar members and their spouses and dependent children from trading, but also from owning individual stocks. It allows members who sell their stock to defer paying taxes from the sale if they reinvest in a mutual fund. It would also impose a 10% penalty — and force the surrendering of profits — for certain offenses, a significant strengthening of current penalties.