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S 3703 United States Senate · 118th Congress

RESPITE for Businesses Act

S 3703, the RESPITE for Businesses Act, allows corporations to automatically exclude shareholder proposals about social issues (like climate or labor practices) from voting without needing to justify why the proposal doesn't address a "significant social policy issue." This changes existing SEC rules by removing the requirement for companies to assess the proposal's policy significance before rejecting it. The bill directly affects businesses (issuers) and shareholders who submit such proposals, streamlining the exclusion process. It makes no changes to the underlying proposals themselves but alters the procedural hurdle for corporations to dismiss them.
Issues: ✗ EnvironmentOpposes EnvironmentBill removes SEC requirement for companies to justify rejecting climate-related shareholder proposals, weakening environmental accountability by enabling automatic exclusion of climate issues.90% confidence ✗ Labor & EmploymentOpposes Labor & EmploymentBill removes SEC requirement for corporations to justify blocking shareholder proposals on labor practices, weakening accountability for workplace standards and worker advocacy efforts.90% confidence
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2024
Committee Review
Floor Vote
President
Introduced Jan 31, 2024 Last action Jan 31, 2024
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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
2
Key actions
0
Committee
1
Jan 31, 2024
Committee
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
upper
Jan 31, 2024
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Bill Hagerty
Bill Hagerty
RRepublican
TN
n/a