H.R. 4544House bill · 119th CongressIn the SenateFinance and Financial Sector

American Access to Banking Act

Sponsored byMaxine WatersD-CA-43Introduced Jul 17, 2025Full text on congress.gov ↗

Latest action (May 21, 2026) Received in the Senate and Read twice and on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

What it does

Congressional Research Service, Jul 17, 2025

This bill requires federal financial regulators to review and streamline the application process for the formation of de novo, or new, depository institutions or credit unions.

Regulators must (1) review the application process; (2) to the extent practicable, collect necessary information from other agencies in order to minimize requests for applicant information; and (3) review how de novo financial intuitions raise capital while maintaining investor protections, including the impact of restrictions on raising capital.

At the request of an applicant, regulators must (1) designate an employee as a caseworker to assist in the application process, and (2) provide a list of similar institutions interested in serving as a mentor.

Each regulator must also develop a state and stakeholder engagement plan to assist interested parties with understanding the relevant regulatory processes.

Face Value

as passed the House
100Narrow

How much of this bill its name accounts for.

  • Every bill starts at100
  • Nothing counted against it: one area of law, and short enough that length doesn't register.

Face Value measures reach, not honesty. A big bill can be accurately named, and a low score is not an accusation — it means the contents reach further than any short title could describe. Count it yourself ↗ How this is worked out

What Congress did

1 recorded
  • On , as Amendeddecisive vote

    House · May 20, 2026

    A fast-track vote: no amendments, short debate, and two thirds needed to pass. Used for bills expected to be uncontroversial.

    4054

    Passed

    Every vote →

Who lobbied on this

1 organization

These organizations told Congress, in their own quarterly disclosures, that they were lobbying on this bill.

  • …H.R. 3633 The CLARITY Act H.R. 3709 Advancing the Mentor-Protege Program for Small Financial Institutions Act H.R. 4437 SMART Act H.R. 4478 TRUST Act H.R. 4544 The American Access to Banking Act H.R. 4551 The Employee Paycheck and Small Business Protection Act H.R. 5276 The Community Bank LIFT Act… filing ↗

Most filings say only that an organization lobbied on a bill, not which side it took — where that's the case we say so rather than guessing. Quotes are verbatim from the filing. How this is built.

Discussion

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