Skip to main content
H.R. 4655 118th Congress House

Businesses Over Activists Act

Official title: To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit the Securities and Exchange Commission from compelling the inclusion or discussion of shareholder prop… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit the Securities and Exchange Commission from compelling the inclusion or discussion of shareholder proposals or proxy or consent solicitation materials, and for other purposes.

Introduced: July 14, 2023 Introduced by: Ralph Norman Republican · South Carolina See on congress.gov
Finance and Financial Sector Business ethicsMinority employmentWomen's employment
Sign in to write a letter

Free account. One morning email at most, only on days something moved. Already have one? Sign in.

This bill died when the 118th Congress ended
It never became law before the 118th Congress (2023–2024) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 6 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Dec 19, 2023
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 265.
Dec 19, 2023
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Financial Services. H. Rept. 118-326.
Jul 27, 2023
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 29 - 21.
Jul 27, 2023
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
Jul 14, 2023
Introduced in House
Jul 14, 2023
Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
 Ask about this bill AI · grounded in the bill text

Have a question about what this bill does? Ask in plain English; the answer is drawn from the bill's actual text and official record, and it'll tell you when something isn't in the text rather than guess.

AI answers can be imperfect; always confirm against the full bill text.

 Latest action December 19, 2023

Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 265.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Businesses Over Activists Act

This bill prohibits the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from compelling a publicly traded company to include a shareholder proposal or a discussion of a proposal in a proxy statement. Under current SEC rules, certain qualifying shareholder proposals must be included on a company's proxy statement. Proxy statements are provided to shareholders before shareholder meetings and contain disclosures required by the SEC.

 Bill text 2 versions

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Lobbying activity 1

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

  • AFL-CIO
    for AFL-CIO · District of Columbia · 3rd Quarter 2025 (July 1 - Sep 30)

Bodies those filers lobbied

A filing lists the bills it worked on and the parts of government it contacted in separate sections, so these are the bodies those filers named anywhere in the filing, not a per-bill breakdown.

Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 4655: Businesses Over Activists Act. 118th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/118-HR-4655/
MLA
"H.R. 4655: Businesses Over Activists Act." 118th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/118-HR-4655/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 4655, 118th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/118-HR-4655/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 4655: Businesses Over Activists Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/118-HR-4655/)
Report a problem