U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming and Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray have joined the fight against a federal law that they and others say tramples on states’ power to regulate companies and subjects business owners to onerous reporting requirements.
Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act in 2020 and overrode a veto by then-President Donald Trump to enact the measure, though reporting requirements in the law were written to take effect only recently. Those requirements, challenged in federal district courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, are currently blocked.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a request by Attorney General Merrick Garland to lift an injunction that halted the requirements.
Lummis and Gray filed a Supreme Court brief Friday opposing Garland’s move, thus supporting a small business that filed a lawsuit against the federal government, tactical gear supplier Texas Top Cop Shop. No hearing dates were listed on the Supreme Court’s docket as of Monday.
If allowed to be implemented, the law would require many small business owners to give detailed personal and financial information to the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for the stated purpose of combating money laundering, terrorism and tax fraud, among other things.
“The last thing business owners in Wyoming need after surviving four years of the Biden administration are more attacks on their small businesses, privacy and constitutional rights,” Lummis said in a Monday statement. “Small businesses are the backbone of the Cowboy State, yet the federal government’s murky at best requirements are setting them up to fail, not thrive. I am partnering with Secretary Gray to defend our small businesses from this egregious overreach.”
Added Gray, “I have been clear in my opposition to the CTA and its implementation, which is an unconstitutional intrusion hurting small business owners across our country, including Wyoming.
“It is up to all levels of government to push back against unconstitutional intrusions, and I want to thank Senator Lummis and her team for partnering with us on this very important issue, and I hope the Supreme Court continues to block enforcement of the CTA."
Lummis and Gray said the act is another example of government overreach.
“The statute requires the more than 32 million small businesses around the country to adhere to intrusive and unclear reporting requirements that most do not even know exist,” according to their statement. “This is especially punishing for businesses with fewer than 20 employees and $5 million or less in sales. Business owners who fail to comply, even unknowingly, could face up to $10,000 in civil penalties and/or criminal penalties with up to two years in prison.”
