The government shouldn’t pressure banks and other financial institutions to avoid doing business with politically controversial people and businesses, just as bakers should not be compelled to bake cakes with messages they disagree with. Instead, they ought to be empowered to make their own decisions, taking a pass on would-be customers who are at odds with the banks’ own values or business interests.
So, when Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., reintroduced the Fair Access to Banking Act, which aims to protect businesses’ and individual consumers’ access to financial services, they might not have considered the impact on banks and firms with religious values or particular moral codes, including those such as “green banks” that might prefer not to back fossil fuel projects.
The legislation requires that lending and services decisions…
