Joining AATAC means that our retailers will meet quality companies with products and services that will help you prosper.

Lawmakers Try to Tiptoe Around Durbin Amendment

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lawmakers are exploring procedural loopholes to remove language repealing the Durbin Amendment from the Financial CHOICE Act, according to Bloomberg BNA.

The House Rules Committee is essentially looking for ways to allow the full House to have their cake and eat it too, giving lawmakers a loophole to keep the Durbin Amendment’s swipe-fee caps in place without having to publicly take a position on either side of the issue.

House leaders are discussing several options to achieve this political sleight of hand. The Rules Committee could modify the bill’s language through the use of a “print” that does away with the Durbin repeal, or it could put together a “self-executing rule” that would drop the language.

Whether the bill includes the Durbin Amendment or not, passage of the Financial CHOICE Act would gut many of the financial regulations set up by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act to protect the economy from another banking crisis. If the Rules Committee removed the repeal, it could also send a rule to the full House that would give lawmakers a path to consider the Financial CHOICE Act without allowing any moves to bring language repealing Durbin back into the bill, essentially safeguarding Durbin from any votes or discussion on the House floor.

But just because some House leaders are talking about the move doesn’t mean everyone is open to the idea. Bloomberg BNA obtained a recent letter to Republican leadership from Rep. Ted Budd, R-N.C., who argued against such procedural backdoors. “We respect the desire of leadership to avoid dividing the Conference,” Budd wrote in the letter, but he said a scenario where “the House never takes a vote on the Durbin Amendment is not acceptable under even an elastic standard of regular order.”

Bloomberg BNA also speculates that the likelihood of a vote on the Financial CHOICE Act reaching the House floor anytime soon is slim. The online publication cites sources familiar with the process that a vote is unlikely the week of May 22, and with a House recess scheduled for May 29, any moves from the Rules Committee or the greater floor aren’t likely to come until June at the earliest.

The entire debate around the Financial CHOICE Act could become a moot point if it reaches the Senate just to stall there due to lack of support. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., recently made his uncertainty of the bill’s passage public. “I’d love to do something about Dodd-Frank, particularly with regard to community banks but that would require Democratic involvement,” McConnell recently told Bloomberg News, but he’s “not optimistic” about its prospects in the Senate due to opposition to the bill from Democrats.

Between the procedural squirming from House leaders and McConnell’s public lack of confidence in the bill’s support, the passage of the Financial CHOICE Act looks more and more uncertain as time passes. But scaling back financial regulations under Dodd-Frank is an oft-mentioned priority of the Trump administration, and House Republicans seem eager to deliver legislative wins for the president’s agenda. Only time will tell if the Durbin Amendment is caught in the crosshairs of this political firefight.

Author(s): 
Jackson Lewis

jota

About jota

Vendor Application

 

Toll Free: 888-662-7780

Here at AATAC we are always looking for companies that may enhance our member’s businesses and better the industry as a whole. If you are interested in becoming a preferred vendor within our network please fill out this information form.

Send info and materials to our receivables office:

503 E. Jackson St. STE# 141
Tampa, FL. 33602

×

Answer

Answer the Question of the Day by filling in the information below and send it to us for your chance to win the prizes and exclusive discounts offered only to our members!

×

QOD

Located on the front page of our national website is a field called “Question Of The Day” (QOD). Each day we post a different question about the products and services that are presented through our website. The answer to this question can be found on one of our partner’s web pages. Our members will navigate through the preferred vendors page to find the answer to your question while subconsciously educating themselves about your company! AATAC effectively selects members who answer the question correctly to win rewards which include; rebates, complimentary services, cash, promotional offers from vendors, prizes, giveaways, etc. *Your QOD should be 1-2 sentences in length and can not name a specific product or company within the question. 

Here are some examples:

Which preferred vendor offers your customers a 99% accurate drug test that reads results in five minutes?  

One of our partner’s provides important compliance training classes in a virtual setting for a low cost. Who is it?

×

Your Vendor Category

When your logo and redirect are added to our preferred vendors catalog it offers two very important elements to members:

  1. It tells them that your company has been vetted and approved for business within our network. 
  2. It encourages them to visit your website where they can learn more about your company. 

*IMPORTANT:

 

 

×