July 2026 Public Policy Update

As CFP® professionals know, financial independence is more than an ideal - it is the foundation of the work you do every day to help Americans build security, resilience and the possibility of achieving their own American Dream. This July, as Washington, D.C., marked Independence Day and celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, that mission felt especially urgent. Our country has made meaningful progress, but too many Americans still face barriers to financial freedom and protection from harm. That is why CFP Board's public policy team is on Capitol Hill and across Washington educating policymakers, advocating for the profession and building broad coalitions to advance CFP Board's public policy priorities - priorities that support the public and strengthen the financial planning profession.

Now, onto what's happening with Congress and the Administration.

CFP Board Wins You Should Know About

On June 25, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Financial Exploitation Prevention Act (H.R. 2478) by an overwhelming majority vote of 414- 2. The bill would strengthen protections against the financial exploitation of seniors and vulnerable adults, allowing investment companies and transfer agents to place a vital "hold" on redemption requests when elder financial abuse or exploitation is suspected. We applaud Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) for their leadership in advancing this important legislation, which would allow mutual funds and transfer agents to pause fund redemptions when they believe they are the result of financial exploitation of the investor. Financial exploitation can devastate older Americans and vulnerable adults, who often cannot recover from major financial losses. Visit CFP Board's Advocacy Center to send a message to your Senator urging them to support this important legislation.

We are also celebrating the advancement of the Tax Relief for Fraud Victims Act (H.R. 9500), introduced by Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), which was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee unanimously in early July. Under current law, victims of certain investment scams, romance scams, business email compromise, cryptocurrency schemes, and other forms of fraud and theft have no meaningful tax relief for these losses, even as cybercrime topped $20 billion in 2025. H.R. 9500 would allow victims to claim a deduction within a year of discovering the fraud, even after normal refund deadlines have passed, and waive the 401(k) early withdrawal penalty and contribution limits for victims rebuilding their retirement savings. In a letter to the Committee in advance of their vote, CFP Board also expressed its continued support for Rep. Greg Steube's (R-FL) and Rep. Jamie Raskin's (D-MD) Tax Relief for Victims of Crime, Scams and Disaster Act (H.R. 3469), which would offer similar relief. We thank Chair Jason Smith (R-MO) and Ranking Member Richie Neal (D-MA) for their leadership in combating financial fraud and helping victims of such fraud and scams. Send a message to your representative in support of H.R. 3469 here.

Will There Be a Third Reconciliation Package?

House Republicans have advanced moving on a third party-line reconciliation package (216-214), after much internal negotiation. The $95 billion budget framework is expected to touch on defense, the war in Iran and farm aid, and contain elements of the voting rights legislation known as the SAVE America Act. However, its future in the Senate remains uncertain.

August Recess

After returning from the July Fourth recess on July 13, the House left town on July 23, while the Senate will go on recess on August 7 for its annual month-long break, returning after Labor Day. Members will use the district work period for town halls, site visits and campaign activity ahead of the midterms. Prior to departing, the House passed both its version of the FY 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and a short-term continuing resolution (CR) funding the federal government through December 4. It remains to be seen whether the Senate will act on the House-passed items prior to the August recess.

SEC Developments to Watch

CFP® professionals should also keep an eye on the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) recently released 2026 regulatory agenda and its new Retail Fraud Working Group. The agenda signals possible rulemakings that could affect investment advisers and the clients they serve, including electronic delivery modernization, pay-to-play reform, investment adviser recordkeeping updates and private markets access. At the same time, the SEC's Retail Fraud Working Group, housed within the Division of Enforcement, is intended to strengthen the agency's efforts to identify and combat fraud targeting everyday investors, including frauds, pump-and-dump schemes, market manipulation, and breaches of duties to customers by investment advisers and broker-dealers. Together, these developments will be important to watch because they may affect both the regulatory environment for financial professionals and the investor protection issues CFP® professionals help clients navigate every day.

Crypto World

The House Ways and Means Committee hosted a long-awaited legislative hearing on a crypto tax package last month, though it remains partisan, with Democrats not on board. Chair Jason Smith (R-MO) has repeatedly said he wants the policy to be bipartisan. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), the most crypto-friendly Ways and Means member of his party, has said he won't support a crypto tax package unless it includes several key changes. Rep. Horsford said there have been "ongoing conversations" with the committee about crypto tax. However, one of Rep. Horsford's proposed amendments to the Republicans' bills concerns the treatment of staking and mining rewards, which some in the crypto industry may find hard to swallow.

Over in the Senate, the Clarity Act, the crypto market structure legislation, remains unresolved heading into the August recess. A new version of the bill emerged this past week that includes an ethics provision, sunsetting in 2029, addressing conflicts of interest tied to officials' crypto holdings, including the president's. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) has said he is a "no" without further changes to the ethics language, though Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) has indicated that the GOP can't meet the Democrats on their core concern in the crypto ethics struggle. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) also shared with reporters that he knows of "one, maybe two, other Republicans who are not going to vote for it."

Trump Accounts

Trump Accounts, the children's savings accounts created under Section 530A of the reconciliation package signed into law last summer, officially launched on July 4, with 6.5 million accounts created, according to the Department of the Treasury. Prior to its launch, the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) unveiled additional guidance providing a gift tax reporting safe harbor for certain contributions and Treasury announced the investment lineup for the accounts.

Additional guidance is needed. That is why CFP Board submitted a comment letter to the Treasury and the IRS in May urging regulators to move quickly on several critical unanswered questions, including fee structures, contribution rules and whether financial professionals assisting clients will be held to a fiduciary standard. Some of these questions remain unanswered.