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 Consider Amending Flood Insurance Bill This Wednesday, February 26, and for the duration of the week, the House will consider amending the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act under suspension of the rules. The legislation would scale back flood insurance rate increases. According to Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), “the House will … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Financial Services Committee Sends PATH Act to the Floor The House Financial Services Committee approved the Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act of 2013, also known as the PATH Act (H.R. 2767). The PATH Act now awaits consideration by the House. The housing finance reform bill includes provisions to wind-down the government … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Student Loan Interest Rates A bipartisan group of senators, led Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), announced another agreement on student loan interest rates last week. The deal, which represents a new scheme that shifts to market-driven variable interest rates, was announced after Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) ultimately agreed to support it. According to reports, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Student Loan Interest Rates The agreement reached on a student loan interest rate package last week has been disrupted after a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score estimated a $22 billion (over 10 years) cost to the proposal. A bipartisan group consisting of Democratic Senators Joe Manchin (WV), Tom Carper (DE), and Dick Durbin … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Tax Writing Committee Continues Meetings on Reform The Senate Finance Committee has continued its series of closed-door committee meetings on tax reform, recently issuing an options paper addressing charitable and tax-exempt organizations. The most recent paper is available here. The Committee’s paper on charitable and tax-exempt organizations was the ninth topic covered … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Passes Derivatives Bills Last Wednesday, June 12, the House passed several bills related to certain derivatives and swaps regulation provisions under the Dodd-Frank Act. Included among the bills was H.R. 1256, a controversial proposal that would direct the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to adopt a … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Tax Writing Committee Meetings Continue The Senate Finance Committee has continued its series of closed-door committee meetings on tax reform, recently issuing their latest Option Paper on May 23 – this one on Economic Security. The closed-door meetings are intended to facilitate discussion among senators in an attempt to find where agreement on … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Student Loan Interest Rates As the Senate continues consideration of the Farm Bill, there may be discussion on an amendment (S.A. 976) that would extend the 3.4 percent fixed student loan interest rate for two years, although consideration of this issue will likely take place separate from the Farm Bill. This week, the … Continue Reading
