Congress Means Business on Bankruptcy Reform

In recent years, the number of bankruptcy filings has sky-rocketed -- transferring the debt burden from individual consumers to businesses like yours. After eight years of votes in both houses of Congress, seemingly countless hearings, and numerous attempts to amend the legislation, a clean reform bill called the "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005" is headed for a full Senate vote.

 

But we need your help to make it happen.

 

The number of bankruptcies has risen from 348,000 to 1.4 million over the last 15 years, and businesses swallow nearly $40 billion in bankruptcy losses each year. Small businesses often have difficulty recovering their losses because the cost of doing so is prohibitively high.

 

To address the impact of bankruptcy on small businesses and others, the bankruptcy reform bill, S. 256, would institute a deliberate and straightforward "needs-based test." This test would require wealthy debtors to work out a repayment plan under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code rather than escaping their debts.

 

S. 256 constitutes meaningful bankruptcy reform and moves a step closer to rewarding personal responsibility and restoring fairness to the bankruptcy system, while protecting those who need the support that bankruptcy offers such as a fresh start and protection from creditors. This bipartisan bill will stop the rampant abuse of the bankruptcy system that is harmful to consumers, workers, and small businesses.

 

Just within the last several days, numerous amendments have been offered to the bill on the Senate floor. Because of the strong bipartisan support for this legislation, we must urge our Senators to oppose all weakening, unrelated, or poison pill amendments.

 

Few, if any, bills have undergone such an extensive process of committee hearings and amendments accompanied by repeated and overwhelming bipartisan floor votes. After eight years, it is time to enact this legislation.

 

Encourage your lawmakers in Washington to support S. 256 without amendments. Visit http://www.voteforbusiness.com/ and learn how you can be part of the bankruptcy reform solution today.