Yet another bill aimed at relieving some of the strain felt by community banks and small businesses is circulating in Congress, though regulators, unsurprisingly, think it's unnecessary.

H.R. 3461, or the Financial Institutions Examination Fairness and Reform Act, was introduced in the House in November by Republican Rep. Shelley Capito of West Virginia. Since then, our very own 4th Congressional District Rep. Cory Gardner has added his name to the legislation.

This bill would make a number of changes, including the creation of an Office of Examination Ombudsman to serve as an intermediary between financial institutions and their regulators. The bill would also "clean up" the examination process and give banks the right to appeal regulatory decisions to an independent administrative law judge.

Gardner said he decided to put his name on the bill after a series of discussions with community bankers in which he heard protests about regulations imposed by agencies that require underwriting standards so strict banks are having difficulty lending money to would-be small businesses.

This concern has been the reasoning for many decisions made by legislators and industry groups since