The STOCK Act was originally introduced in the 109th session of the House of Representatives on Mar. 28, 2006 by Brian Baird (D-WA) and Louise Slaughter (D-NY) where it died in committee. It was reintroduced in the 110th (May 16, 2007) and 111th (Jan. 26, 2009) House sessions where it also died in committee.
On Mar. 17, 2011, Tim Walz (D-MN) introduced the STOCK Act into the 112th House session where it gained one co-sponsor and was referred to various committees. Eight more co-sponsors joined by Nov. 4, 2011.
On Nov. 13, 2011,
60 Minutes reported that several members of Congress allegedly used
insider information for personal gain. The STOCK Act received 84 additional House co-sponsors in the five days following the report, and Scott Brown (R-MA) filed the STOCK Act in the Senate on Nov. 15, 2011. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) also filed a variation of the STOCK Act in the Senate on Nov. 17, 2011.
On Dec. 6, 2011, House Financial Services Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-AL) scheduled a markup of the STOCK Act for Dec. 14, 2011.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) indefinitely postponed the markup session on Dec. 7, 2011, stating that "a large group of bipartisan members of the committee felt the legislation was flawed and being recklessly moved solely in response to media pressure. Members of both sides of the aisle wanted more time to gather information and develop appropriate alternatives.” Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC) described Cantor’s move as "absolutely unacceptable” and "petty,” while Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) stated that "last week we passed a bill worth hundreds of billions of dollars with less than a two day layover and no one knew what was in it. This bill has been around for six years.”
On Dec. 13, 2011, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced the STOCK Act by a vote of 7-2. Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) dissented, calling the bill "unnecessary and rife with potential unintended consequences." Senator John McCain (R-AZ) also opposed the bill, but was absent from the vote.
On Jan. 24, 2012, in his State of the Union Address, President Obama said "Send me a bill that bans insider trading by members of Congress, and I will sign it tomorrow.” Immediately after the speech, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told reporters, "I think people should have enough sense not to do it [insider trading] without legislation, but I will support legislation.” On Jan. 26, 2012, Senator Reid scheduled a cloture vote [a vote to end debate on a pending bill and move to a final passage vote] on the STOCK Act for Jan. 30, 2012.