Gottheimer added, “Seniors need a cop on the beat, and my bipartisan bill which the House passed today will take concrete action to ensure protections are in place.”
The New Jersey congressman also noted a report from the Investor Protection Trust that seven million seniors were victims of financial exploitation last year. “What worse is that only one in every 24 cases of elder exploitation actually gets reported,” he said.
The bipartisan bill will establish a new Senior Investor Protection Grant Program. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will responsible in implementing the program to help state enforcement agencies and task forces protect and educate the elderly regarding financial scams.
The bill authorizes annual funding of $10 million to regulators so they can hire additional investigative staff, acquire new equipment, and technology, train law enforcement, and educate seniors about financial scams.
Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tim Scott (R-SC), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) introduced a companion bipartisan legislation in the Senate.