Dive Brief:
- With the House, led by new Speaker Paul Ryan, currently trying to pass its six-year highway funding bill, Republicans are now attempting to add bank deregulation riders to the 280 amendments already attached to the long-awaited bill.
- The Republican banking additions would lift restrictions imposed under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act passed after the 2008 crash. The riders deregulate a large number of banks and reduce the power of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which works to protect financial institutions and payday lenders from taking advantage of consumers.
- If Republicans are successful in seeing their bank deregulation measures included in the bill that ultimately makes its way to President Obama for signature, they run the risk of a veto, according to the Huffington Post. As it stands now, there is enough bipartisan support of the highway bill without strong backing from the Democrats. However, if Obama vetoes the bill, they’ll need that support, which is doubtful if the banking additions remain.
Dive Insight:
The House highway bill establishes policies and provides funding for building and maintaining roads, highways and bridges for the next six years. However, legislators have only been able to identify funding for three of those years.
After a series of patches and extensions, this will be, if enacted, the first highway bill since 2005 lasting longer than two years. Last week, Obama signed the three-week extension passed by the House and Senate, which extends federal transportation funding through Nov. 20.
Speaker Ryan is cutting his teeth as leader on this bill, and has pledged a new era of inclusiveness to both sides of the aisle, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats would oppose any GOP efforts to include "foolish ideological amendments" added to spending bills.
The status of the highway bill affects not only state budget planning, but also construction hiring, which could stall in a climate of uncertainty, and workers could be let go if highway projects are tabled or forced to shut down.
In fact, last month, the CMD Group reported the worst September nonresidential start number in a decade, largely due to the road and highway funding debacle in Washington.