On Tuesday and Wednesday, the House voted on some of its first pieces of legislation in the 114th Congress, including the Hiring More Heroes Act (H.R. 22), Terrorism Risk Insurance (TRIA) Program Reauthorization Act (H.R. 26), and the Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act (H.R. 37). I voted in support of H.R. 22 and H.R. 26 but voted against H.R 37. • H.R. 22: Exempts veterans with VA health coverage from counting toward the 50 employee threshold that requires employers to provide health coverage to all its employees. This employer responsibility provision is meant to encourage employers to provide insurance options for their employees, but it should not apply in cases where veterans already receive care through the VA. H.R. 22 would correct that flaw and also incentivize companies to hire more veterans. This bill passed the House and is likely to be considered by the Senate. • H.R. 26: Reauthorizes the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) program through December 31, 2020 to ensure that businesses, schools, sports arenas, and other commercial venues in the United States would remain insured against major terrorist attacks in our country. H.R. 26 also contains provisions that would allow the federal government to gradually recoup a portion of the money it pays out to entities covered under TRIA. The House passed a TRIA reauthorization bill in December 2014 (S. 2244) but the Senate did not consider that legislation before the end of the Congress. H.R. 26 also passed on the House floor, and will likely be considered by the Senate. • H.R. 37: Rolls back portions of the Dodd-Frank bill that was signed into law after the 2008 financial crisis. Specifically, H.R. 37 would allow banks that are federally insured to use their assets to engage in risky behavior related to derivatives and other financial trading practices that could ultimately result in taxpayers being on the hook for their losses. While there are many provisions I support in H.R. 37, the bill was not considered in the Financial Services Committee and Congress debated the bill for only one hour. H.R. 37 is far too complicated to rush through the House during the first week of Congress with this lack of transparency and debate. Many of my colleagues joined me in opposing this legislation, and it failed on the House floor. It may, however, come up again for another vote in the future.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 00:03:23 +0000
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