Yesterday the House passed a bill (HR 3574) to block the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) rule that companies treat stock options as an expense from taking effect in December. The rule would lead many companies to report losses instead of profits, especially technology companies, who lobbied hard against the rule. Companies such as Cisco Systems Inc. feared they would have to stop offering stock options if the rules were enacted. An amendment to remove the language in the bill requiring companies to estimate the value of options at the current value of the stock failed.

Those who oppose the bill do not want to interfere with the FASB standards and insist that the rule is necessary to ensure the accuracy of financial statements in indicating a company’s condition. This legislation is opposed in the Senate by a bipartisan group of senators including Richard C. Shelby (R-Alaska), the chairman of the Banking Committee, making the vote in the House mainly symbolic.