Husted leads push to protect taxpayer investments and reduce national debt

“Without clear guardrails, future administrations could use taxpayer-funded investments to influence private companies and advance political agendas.” WASHINGTON – Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) today introduced the Investing in National Values, Economy, Strategy and Tomorrow (INVEST) Act. This bill would ensure strategic federal ownership stakes in private companies are temporary. The Trump Administration has made bold, historic investments to strengthen domestic supply chains and expand American production in industries critical to long-term national and economic security, including chips and critical minerals. These investments are rightly intended to benefit taxpayers and increase U.S. independence and economic competitiveness. However, there is currently no clear process to unwind the federal government’s equity stakes once those objectives have been achieved. Permanent government influence in the U.S. economy would conflict with the capitalist model that has made America prosperous. “The government at all levels has long made investments through grants, loans, tax credits and now ownership stakes in order to spur innovation and economic growth. Currently, there is no requirement for the federal government to sell its ownership stakes in private companies once those investments have served their purpose. Without clear guardrails, future administrations could use taxpayer-funded investments to influence private companies and advance political agendas. The INVEST Act would establish a responsible process to unwind these investments, prevent permanent government ownership in the private sector and use the proceeds to help reduce our national debt. This is a commonsense step to protect taxpayers, strengthen accountability and ensure federal investments remain focused on their intended purpose,” said Husted. The INVEST Act would: Require each federal agency to identify covered equity investments in privately-owned, for-profit companies, including: Shares of common/preferred stock; Economic, partnership or membership interests; Warrants, options or other rights to acquire such interest, whether those options are currently exercisable; Golden shares; and Equity interests related to Initial public offerings, spin-offs or other similar transactions. Require covered investments to be liquidated no later than eight years after enactment. For any future investments, liquidation is required eight years after acquisition. Direct all proceeds from the liquidation of covered investments towards paying down the national debt. The full text of the bill is available here .