May 23, 2013 2 min read

Mt. Pleasant Township supervisors voted Wednesday to approve a resolution supporting the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act, a federal law that regulated the banking system. Supervisors Larry Grimm and Bryan Smith voted in favor of the motion, with Arden McCartney absent.

The resolution called on the Pennsylvania House to urge Pennsylvania members of the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a house bill to reinstate the law. Township manager Mary Ann Stevenson said township supervisors learned about the issue during a recent state summit of township supervisors in Harrisburg.

The Federal Banking Act of 1933, known as Glass-Steagall, was enacted after the Great Depression. It separated commercial and investment banking functions and was repealed in 1999. Many advocates argue that the speculative bubble that caused the housing market to collapse during the 2008 recession could have been prevented had the law stayed on the books.

The board also unanimously approved Kate Grant and Nikki Sarchet to the parks and recreation board. Supervisors approved motions to authorize the township engineer and building code officer to inspect a property on Main Street in Hickory and to send a generic letter of intent to Progressive Bank showing interest in the property. Supervisor Bryan Smith said a resident recently approached the board about the possibility of the township purchasing the plot, but the board had no current plans for the property.