Goodlander co-sponsors bill to ban stock trading, prediction market bets for senior officials

WASHINGTON (WCAX) – New Hampshire Rep. Maggie Goodlander is pushing a bipartisan proposal that would ban members of Congress, federal judges, executive branch officials, and their family members from stock trading or betting on prediction markets.

Goodlander said the current rules are full of loopholes, and the goal is to root out corruption in the federal government.

“In all three branches of government, we see senior officials who are getting a briefing, or hearing oral arguments in the morning, then in the afternoon, are trading or betting on that very same information for personal profit, and that’s just not what public service is about,” Goodlander said.

The standard penalty for breaking federal disclosure rules is a $200 fine, and no member of Congress has ever been prosecuted under the STOCK Act.

The legislation would require any official who violates the ban to give up their profit and pay a penalty of 10% of the value.