The House Committee on Financial Services is considering legislation on a number of matters that would affect public companies.  An example of some of the matters under consideration include:

• A bill that would require public companies to submit quarterly reports to both the SEC and investors detailing the amount, date, and nature of the company’s expenditures for political activities.
• The ESG Disclosure Simplification Act would require issuers to disclose certain environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics to shareholders, the connection between those metrics and the issuer’s long term business strategy, and the method by which the issuer determines how ESG metrics impact its long term strategy. The bill would also require the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to adopt rules requiring issuers to disclose ESG metrics in filings that require audited financial statements.
• A bill that would require public companies to annually disclose the voluntarily, self-identified gender, race, ethnicity and veteran status of their board directors.

Whether Republicans or Democrats are in charge, many bills considered by this Committee do not progress very far.  Probably the greatest chance of any of this progressing is if it is incorporated in a larger bill.