Both the House and the Senate are in session this week, and their work could extend through the weekend into first part of next week. When the House and Senate recess again, whether it’s Friday or next Tuesday, they won’t convene again until Monday, November 16, in observance of Veterans Day.
Floor Schedule
The Senate convenes today to again consider legislation to extend unemployment insurance benefits. This legislation is expected to also carry an extension of the homebuyers tax credit. Also, this week, the Senate is expected to complete consideration of Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill. If the Senate passes the CJS Appropriations bill this week, it will be the eighth appropriations bill passed through that Chamber. The House has passed all twelve, and the President has signed five.
The House convenes today to consider several bills under the Suspension of Rules procedure, and will do so again on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the House and Senate will meet in joint session to receive an address from Dr. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. Also on Wednesday, the House will begin consideration of H.R. 3639 - the Expedited CARD Act Reform For Consumers Act, H.R. 2868 - the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act and H.R. 3962 - the Affordable Health Care for America Act. The Expedited CARD Act Reform bill would accelerate the effective dates of the CARD Act to December 1. During consideration of this legislation in the House Financial Services Committee, two CUNA-supported amendments were approved to narrow the scope of the legislation. The bill, as reported by the Financial Services Committee, would only apply the accelerated effective dates to card issuers with more than 2 million cards in circulation and would not move the effective dates of provisions related to gift cards.
Committee Schedule:
On Tuesday, the House Financial Services Committee will begin a full Committee mark-up of pending legislation including H.R.3817 - Investor Protection Act of 2009, H.R.2609 - "Federal Insurance Office Act of 2009, the Financial Stability Improvement Act of 2009, and H.R.3904 - Overdraft Protection Act. The Overdraft Protection Act remains on the Committee roster, but Chairman Frank indicated he would not call this legislation up this week. It is unlikely that the bill will be considered in the Financial Services Committee before 11/16. Even then, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act is widely expected to be considered in the House of Representatives that week so it’s unlikely the Committee will mark-up other legislation.
Outlook
H.R. 3606 – Peter Welch’s CARD Act 21-Day fix passed the Senate passed last Thursday and was cleared to be sent to the White House on Friday. We expect it to be presented to the President in the coming days, and CUNA has sent the President a letter asking him to sign the bill. We’ll let you know when it officially becomes law.
Between now and adjournment we expect action on a number of issues. In addition to debate on overdraft protection in House Financial Services, we expect Senate Banking will hold a hearing on overdraft protection in November. It’s also expected that the House will consider Consumer Financial Protection Agency legislation before the Thanksgiving recess.
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