Bryan Steil took $40k from Blackstone executives before voting against renters, thousands more from Wall Street, banks, mortgage providers

More is being learned about exactly who funds Congressman Bryan Steil and how those donations have turned into favorable votes.

The Milwaukee Courier previously reported last month that Steil accepts money from Big Pharma lobbyists and in turn he votes in their favor. Steil also has investments in the data center boom he supports.

Now, records reveal, Steil took campaign cash from Wall Street lobbyists and executives, Blackstone executives, and mortgage providers – timed around dates he took votes to roll back regulations on Wall Street, cut rental assistance, and raise mortgage fees.

The day after Steil voted to roll back regulations on Wall Street, Steil received campaign contributions from Wall Street lobbyists and executives.

On April 26, 2023, Steil voted for the Limit, Save, Grow Act which included within it the REINS Act, an anti-regulatory measure that required Congress to approve major new regulatory rules issued by the executive branch, rather than Congress having only the power to disapprove of them.

The REINS Act would have made it harder to institute federal rules cracking down on Wall Street and the banking industry.

Under the REINS Act, financial and consumer protection rules initially crafted by agencies including the FEC, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the CFTC could not be enforced automatically and would have to be passed by Congress.

The day after the vote, Steil received a $1,000 contribution from Dan Murphy, a lobbyist for Flagstar Bank and Credit Suisse Securities, according to campaign finance records.

Steil voted for the REINS Act again, as standalone legislation, on June 14, 2023.

The day before his vote, he received $250 from the president and CEO of The Equitable Bank Jennifer Provancher, records show. The day after, he received $2,500 from Huntington Bancshares’ corporate PAC.

The April 2023 bill also included cuts to the rental assistance program and in the weeks leading up to the vote, Steil took nearly $40,000 in contributions from executives for Blackstone, the nation’s largest landlord.

The bill would have raised housing costs for more than 600,000 American families, who would have lost access to rental assistance programs.

In the weeks leading up to that vote, Steil took $33,700 from Blackstone employees, including the Blackstone CEO and Chairman. Steil received an additional $3,300 after the vote.

Blackstone is the nation’s largest landlord. As of 2024, the company owned almost 350,000 units of rental housing. In 2019, a UN study accused Blackstone of “wreaking havoc” in communities and helping to fuel a global housing crisis. The study accused Blackstone of “shrinking the pool of affordable housing in some areas and effectively pushing low and middle-income tenants from their homes.” Corporate investors, Blackstone specifically, have been criticized for buying up single family homes and pricing out hardworking Americans just to rent them back at higher and higher prices.

On June 23, 2023, Steil voted for the Middle Class Borrower Protection Act which would raise mortgage costs for many middle-class and first-time homebuyers.

The measure sought to repeal changes made by the Federal Housing Finance Housing Agency that implemented a new fee structure that reduced fees for borrowers who were only putting down a 5% down payment, while raising fees on second homes, investment properties, and other categories.

Just two days after the vote, Steil received $10,500 in contributions from the corporate PACs of major bank mortgage lenders, records show.

Steil’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment on Oct. 15. He’s running for reelection against Democrat Mitchell Berman. Steil has a Republican war chest to work with and a clear money advantage over Berman, but the race still looks increasingly competitive.