Legislative Activity Lawmakers Discuss FSOC Oversight On Wednesday, September 17, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing titled “Oversight of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.” During the hearing, Members emphasized the importance of transparency within the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and called for increased due process and accountability. At … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Tuesday, July 29: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing titled “Breaking the Logjam at BLM: Examining Ways to More Efficiently Process Permits for Energy Production on Federal Lands.” Tuesday, July 29: The House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing titled “FERC Perspectives: Questions Concerning EPA’s Proposed … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate to Vote on Highway Funding Bill This week, the Senate is expected to vote on H.R. 5021, the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014, which recently passed the House by a vote of 367-55. The bill would patch and reauthorize the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) through May 2015 by using transfers … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate to Vote on TRIA Reauthorization Bill, Federal Reserve Membership This week, the Senate is expected to consider a bill (S. 2244) that would reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) for seven years, while making few changes to the current program. On July 10, Senate leadership agreed to a list of four … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House to Vote on Highway Funding Bill, Other Tax Measures This week, the House is expected to vote on H.R. 5021, the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014. The bill, which was reported out of the Ways and Means Committee along party lines on July 10, would patch the Highway Trust Fund … Continue Reading
Regulatory Activity EPA Approves New Measurements for Ozone In significant news for entities attempting to maintain or attain the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQSs), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced it has approved four new testing methods that are now allowed for measuring ozone and related pollutants in determining compliance. The alternative tests can … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House To Vote On CFTC Reauthorization Bill This week, the House is expected to debate and vote on the reauthorization of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) through September 2018 (H.R. 4413). Additionally, while the Senate Agriculture Committee has yet to unveil its CFTC reauthorization bill, the level of bipartisan support that H.R. 4413 receives … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Finance Committee Aims to Markup Highway Funding Bill While not yet noticed, the Senate Finance Committee is expected to markup a short-term highway funding bill before the week-long July 4 holiday recess; however, it is possible that the markup will slip until Congress returns the week of July 7. While disagreements remain … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House to Vote on CFTC Reauthorization Bill This week, the House of Representatives is expected to take up H.R 4413, a bill that would reauthorize the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) through September 2018. On June 13, House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions(R-TX) asked Members to submit any amendments by Tuesday, June 15. The House bill would make several changes to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Reid, Paul Working on Repatriation Bill to Fund Transportation Infrastructure On June 10, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) indicated that they are working on legislation that would allow corporations to repatriate foreign earnings at lower rates, suggesting that this revenue could be used to fund improvements to … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Confirms Three CFTC Commissioners, House To Take Up CFTC Reauthorization Bill On June 3, the Senate confirmed Timothy Massad as Chairman and Sharon Bowen and J. Christopher Giancarlo as Commissioners at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Chairman Massad was sworn in to his new office on June 5. It is expected … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Finance Committee Outlines Path Forward on Tax Reform On June 5, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) announced the Committee’s next steps with regard to comprehensive tax reform. As part of its efforts, the Committee will hold three hearings during June and July focused on: … Continue Reading
Regulatory Activity DOE Proposes to Amend Procedures for LNG Export Application Review On Thursday, May 29, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy proposed to amend the agency’s review process for applications to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries that are not party to a free-trade-agreement with the U.S. The Department plans … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Banking Committee to Markup TRIA Reauthorization Bill On Tuesday, June 3, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a markup of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2014 (S. 2244). The bill, which was introduced by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), has bipartisan support and would: (1) extend the current Terrorism Risk Insurance … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Banking Committee Favorably Reports GSE Reform Bill to Senate Floor On May 15, the Senate Banking Committee voted 13-9 to favorably report the Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2013 (S. 1217), to the Senate floor. However, as mentioned in previous coverage, despite being reported out of Committee, it remains uncertain … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Banking Committee Postpones Markup of GSE Reform Bill On Tuesday, April 29, the Senate Banking Committee announced that it was postponing the markup of legislation to reform the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), the “Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2013” (S. 1217). According to Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD), “[w]hile we have the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House to Vote on Legislation to Permanently Extend R&D Tax Credit During the week of May 5, the House of Representatives is set to vote on H.R. 4438, the “American Research and Competitiveness Act of 2014,” which is one of six bills considered during the House Ways and Means Committee’s markup of certain … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Banking Committee to Hold Markup of GSE Reform Bill and Vote on Nominations On Tuesday, April 29, the Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to hold a markup of the legislation to reform the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), released by Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo in March and based on … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Ways and Means to Hold Markup of Six Extender Bills On Tuesday, April 29, the House Ways and Means Committee will hold a markup of six bills to permanently extend the business tax provisions discussed in the Committee’s hearing on April 8. The bills are: HR 4429, “To amend the Internal Revenue Code … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Upcoming Hearings: Tuesday, April 8: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing on cybersecurity programs in the FY 2015 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The hearing will feature three witnesses from DHS’s National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) including Suzanne Spaulding, Undersecretary of Homeland Security; … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Representative Garrett Introduces FSOC Transparency Legislation On Thursday, April 3, House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets Chairman Scott Garrett (R-NJ) introduced legislation to increase transparency at the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). The legislation would allow all members of the Commissions and Boards represented in FSOC to participate in meetings and vote. The … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Ways and Means Committee to Hold First Hearing on Tax Extenders; Finance Committee Passes Tax Extenders Bill On Tuesday, April 8, the House Ways and Means Committee will hold its first hearing on tax extenders to consider those expired provisions that should be made permanent or provided long-term extensions. This will likely be … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congressional Committees Evaluate Expedited LNG Export Application Processing Last week, congressional interest in exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) reached a crescendo as three different congressional committees held hearings to evaluate the economic and geopolitical impact of expedited U.S. processing of liquefied natural gas (LNG) applications to countries that do not have a Free-Trade-Agreement … Continue Reading
Regulatory Activity Proposed Changes to Clean Water Act The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have released a proposed rule to clarify protections under the Clean Water Act for streams and wetlands. The new definitions will apply to all Clean Water Act programs. The controversial proposed rule, once final, is likely … Continue Reading
