On December 10, the SEC Small Business Advocate Act was approved by the Senate, clearing the way for signature by the President. The measure, which creates an advocacy office for the interests of small businesses within the SEC, came out of the House, where it was first proposed back in October of 2015.  In February of 2016, the measure was approved by the House, but it met with delay in the Senate.   The text of the bill was then again included, along with five other financial measures previously approved by the House, in the Creating Financial Prosperity for Businesses and Investors Act, which was passed by the House on December 5, 2016.  You can find a full summary of this legislation and links to the full text by exploring our prior coverage.

The Senate approval is only to the specific SEC Small Business Advocate Act; it is not an approval of the entire six-measure package passed by the House on December 5, so the fate of those remaining measures remains unclear.