Behold the power of the (national) media

State and national politics reporter Kathie Durbin’s got the latest from D.C.:

File this under the “Never underestimate the power of 60 Minutes” category: After being buried in the U.S. House of Representatives morgue since March, a bill to ban insider trading by lawmakers has been resurrected.

The STOCK Act (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) was originally introduced and co-sponsored by our own former U.S. Rep. Brian Baird back in 2006. The bill went nowhere, and Baird left office at the end of 2010.

Then, last Sunday, CBS 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft interviewed Baird about the need for the law and asked pointed questions of several House members who have done well in the stock market, including Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi, about why the bill had failed to gain traction.

On Tuesday, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, Baird’s successor, announced that she would sign on as a sponsor.

On Friday came news from Herrera Beutler’s office that the House Financial Services Committee will hold a full committee hearing on the STOCK Act on December 6.

— Kathie Durban