House
Broadband Rules, Net Neutrality
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
Voting 241 for and 173 against, the House on April 15 passed a GOP-sponsored bill (HR 2666) that would permanently bar the Federal Communications Commission from regulating rates charged by Internet service providers under its rules to preserve “net neutrality.” The FCC has disavowed Internet rate-regulation. But this bill, the agency said, would interfere with its actions to prevent providers from setting data limits, charging fees to prioritize service levels, blocking or throttling transmissions and taking other steps that would violate net neutrality.
Kirkpatrick, Grijalva, Gallego, Nay
McSally, Gosar, Salmon, Schweikert, Franks, Sinema, Yea
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Public Disclosures on Campaign Ads
A yes vote was to improve FCC posting of data campaign ads.
Voting 179 for and 231 against, the House on April 15 defeated an amendment to HR 2666 (above) that sought to improve the process by which television stations submit information on sponsors of campaign ads to the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC eventually posts this information online in cumbersome “public inspection files.” This amendment sought to require stations to transmit the data to the FCC in machine-readable formats that can be quickly scanned online.
Kirkpatrick, Grijalva, Gallego, Sinema, Yea
McSally, Gosar, Salmon, Schweikert, Franks, Nay
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Regulatory Relief for Community Banks
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
Voting 247 for and 171 against, the House on April 14 passed a bill (HR 3791) that would grant relief from a Federal Reserve rule on debt-to-equity ratios to small bank and savings-and-loan holding companies. The rule is designed to prevent excessive “leveraging” by these community banks, which could lead to insolvencies and taxpayer bailouts. Starting in mid-May, the rule will apply to bank and savings-and-loan holding companies with consolidated assets over $1 billion. This bill would raise the threshold to $5 billion, granting relief to an estimated 400 community banks.
Kirkpatrick, Grijalva, Gallego, Sinema, Nay
McSally, Gosar, Salmon, Schweikert, Franks, Yea
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Banking Services to Underserved Communities
A yes vote was to adopt the Democratic motion.
By a vote of 165 for and 253 against, the House on April 14 defeated a motion that would prevent banks from taking advantage of HR 3791(above) unless they commit to lending practices that serve qualified minority, low-income, rural and otherwise underserved borrowers.
Kirkpatrick, Grijalva, Gallego, Yea
McSally, Gosar, Salmon, Schweikert, Franks, Sinema, Nay
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Congressional Control of Financial Regulation
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
Voting 239 for and 179 against, the House on April 14 passed a GOP-drafted bill (HR 3340) that would subject the budgets of the Financial Stability Oversight Council and Office of Financial Research to congressional appropriations and thus to congressional control. Established by the 2010 Dodd-Frank law as independent units in the Treasury Department, these agencies are charged with spotting and preventing systemic risks that could devastate the economy. For example, the oversight council determines when large financial firms threaten to become “too big to fail” and thus potential candidates for taxpayer bailouts. The two agencies are now funded by assessments on banks and non-bank financial institutions.
Kirkpatrick, Grijalva, Gallego, Sinema Nay
McSally, Gosar, Salmon, Schweikert, Franks, Yea
