Legislative Activity New Year, New Look for Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees With the new Congress officially under way, both the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees have announced new Committee members. Joining Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) on the Senate Banking Committee are fellow Republican Senators David Perdue (R-GA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Financial Services Committee Sets Agenda for the Year Ahead As Senate Banking Committee Largely Silent Following the recent House Financial Services Committee retreat, we expect financial services lawmakers – at least in the House – to begin moving forward with their 2016 policy agenda. Among their priorities for this year (many of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Cloture Vote Scheduled for FDA Nominee, Chamber May Consider Opioid Legislation On Monday, February 22, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has scheduled a cloture vote on the nomination of Dr. Robert Califf for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner. Three Senators – Joe Manchin (D-WV), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Bernie Sanders … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health to Mark Up Seven Bills On Tuesday, November 3, and Wednesday, November 4, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health will hold a markup to consider seven pieces of legislation: H.R. 2017, the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015, and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Health-Focused Reconciliation Recommendations Clear Three Committees Last week, three House committees considered and passed reconciliation recommendations that included health-related language. The House Committee on Ways and Means approved language that would repeal the individual and employer mandates, the excise taxes on medical devices and high cost employer-sponsored health coverage (also known as the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Health Legislation Hits House Floor House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has announced that the following health-related bills will be considered this week under suspension of the rules: H.R. 1624, the Protecting Affordable Coverage of Employees Act, as amended, which provides that employers with 51 to 100 employees are small employers for purposes … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Committee on Energy and Commerce to Mark Up Health Legislation The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has announced that it will hold a markup on Tuesday, July 28. Several health bills are on the agenda: H.R. 1344, the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act of 2015, which reauthorizes a program for … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Republicans Postpone Reconciliation Actions Until After August Recess With the August District Work Period only weeks away, House Committee on the Budget Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) announced this past week that the House Committee on the Budget would not act on reconciliation until after the lawmakers reconvene in September. The three House committees … Continue Reading
SCOTUS Watch The Supreme Court is expected to issue its opinion in King v. Burwell by the end of the month, though it is unclear when the decision will be handed down. Currently, the Supreme Court has scheduled non-argument days for June 22 and 29, with a conference day scheduled for June 25. The issue … 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 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 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 Terrorism Risk Insurance Reauthorization Gets Congress’ Attention Last week the House Financial Services Committee addressed the issue of reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), with committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) stating he felt “skeptical” about the need for reauthorization. This week, the Senate Banking Committee will address the issue with a … 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