Momentum Building for Senator Collins’ Bipartisan Bill to Protect Seniors from Financial Exploitation

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), the Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, announced today that the Senior $afe Act—bipartisan legislation she introduced with Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) to help protect American seniors from financial exploitation and fraud—has received key support from four additional Senators. The total number of cosponsors is now 24.

Since last week, their bill has received the support of Democratic Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Republican Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR). A number of organizations, including AARP, the nation’s largest senior advocacy organization representing nearly 38 million members, have also endorsed the Senior $afe Act.

“The addition of these four Senators to our growing coalition demonstrates that there is widespread, bipartisan support for protecting seniors from financial exploitation and fraud,” said Senator Collins. “Putting an end to these pernicious scams will require regulators, law enforcement, and social service agencies at all levels of government to work collaboratively with the private sector. The Senior $afe Act will empower and encourage our financial service representatives to identify warning signs of common scams and help stop financial fraud targeting our seniors.”

Current bank privacy laws can make it difficult for financial institutions to report suspected fraud to the proper authorities The Senior $afe Act would address this problem by:

• Encouraging banks, credit unions, investment advisors, broker-dealers, insurance companies and insurance agencies to report suspected senor financial fraud; and

• Protecting these institutions from being sued for making reports so long as they have trained their employees, and make reports in good faith and on a reasonable basis to the proper authorities.

The complete list of cosponsors of Senators Collins and McCaskill’s Senior $afe Act follows: Senators Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Robert Casey (D-PA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Jon Tester (D-MT), John Barrasso (R-WY), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Dean Heller (R-NV), Angus King (I-ME), Tim Kaine (D-VA), John Boozman (R-AR), Deb Fischer (R-NE), David Perdue (R-GA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Christopher Coons (D-DE), Richard Burr (R-NC), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Patty Murray (D-WA).