WASHINGTON–The regulatory relief bill that rolls back much of Dodd-Frank remains stalled as negotiations continue over how to reconcile the version of the bill passed by the Senate with that passed earlier by the House.
As CUToday.info reported here, members of the House said they will not automatically “rubber stamp” S 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, passed by the Sate, while senators are calling on the lower house not to make any changes if they wish to see the legislation pass this year.
That has left House Speaker Paul Ryan to sit on the legislation until senators agree to add on a “slew of banking reforms” that were part of the House legislation, according to The Hill.
“The deadlock has lobbyists for the banking industry and credit unions growing increasingly frustrated with the House,” The Hill reported. “They plan to raise pressure during the two-week Easter recess for the House to take up the bill.”
The reg relief bill, which consumer groups have called “the bank lobbyist act,” should not be caught up in a “hostage situation,” Paul Merski, executive vice president of congressional relations for the Independent Community Banks of America, told The Hill. “It should be a process of how to make law, not make perpetual arguments.”
The Hill noted that Senate Democrats have vowed to abandon the bill if House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) adds any changes.
In the meantime, “the financial industry is trying to break the jam,” The Hill added. “They fear the bill could die with little time for Congress to act before attention shifts to the midterm elections.”