If there is one thing that Democrats and Republicans agree upon at this moment is that steps must be taken to get the American economy back on track. The finance committee discussed and revised the Small Business and Credit Act today in order to pass a bill that could possibly be one of many steps to revitalize the economy. This bill focused specifically on banks’ lending to small businesses that they can trust. As it appeared today, both the Democrats and Republicans agreed that they want to pass this bill but their main objective was to revise and take out parts of this bill that they saw need fit in order for this bill to be the most effective if it were to be signed by the president. They also said that this bill would have priority over the previous bills they have discussed and sent to the floor for debate.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Article over the Committee on Environment and Public Works; By: Will Merritt and Travis Russell
Over the course of two days, the Committee on Environment and Public works came to a decision about what their course of action will be. They decided that all of the bills except the Green Infrastructure for Clean Water Act of 2010 were not passable. This act calls institutions that will conduct research on green infrastructure that is relevant to the geographical region in which the center is located, develop manuals and establish industry standards on best management practices, and provide information regarding research conducted to the national electronic clearinghouse center for publication. Other uses for this amendment will be the power for administrators to carry out this bill, to get money for these institutions, and shall established an Office of Water that will regulate actions of the green infrastructure program.
The committee had overall unanimous decisions for amending the bill. Most of the changes were shortening phrases and cutting out information that was either irrelevant or repetitive. The republicans, though, were not happy about the money that was needed for the bill. They thought that the 3 million dollars for single grants was too much. Ultimately they were turned down by a simple majority vote. Overall, the passing of the bill was very smooth for both parties.
H.E.L.P. committee hearing on August 9, 2010 by Kary Guthrie
Today, in the H.E.L.P. committee hearing, the bill, H.R. 2749 – Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, underwent several amendments. One of the markups suggested by Senator Franken included the omission of section 122, which stated that the Secretary design and implement a national public education program on food safety. Senators questioned whether this section was beneficial to learn in school and what the proposed budget cost to implement this bill would be. The majority of the Senators concluded that food safety and education was self-evident and of little importance. For the past two hearings, the H.E.L.P. committee passed all three bills with amendments to only the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009.
In regards to tonight’s floor session, Committee Chair, Tom Harkin, and Ranking member, Michael Enzi, is anticipating the Student Internet Safety Act of 2009 to pass through Congress. They remained hopeful, but not certain, to the passing of H.R. 780 and H.R. 2749.
Update on the Finance Committee; By Jackson Coon and Zane Butter
On Thursday August 5th the Finance committee met to debate a number of bills. They first brought up the Veteran’s Bill, which is basically supporting America’s veterans and providing them unemployment benefits and better credit. The bill expands the veterans who are applicable to ensure that all of them get accounted for. The republican from Arizona wanted psychological benefits and screenings for returning veterans to be mandatory but the majority of the committee felt it would be unconstitutional to do so. The committee felt that this could make veterans feel unsecure and make the situation worse. After reviewing the bill the committee voted for the bill to be floor ready and moved on to possibly the most important bill up for debate, the Small Business and Credit Act. This bill basically allows for Small Businesses who have the credit for loans to apply and receive benefits. The benefits are ensured to small businesses by a set of guidelines and procedures to restrict larger businesses from receiving the loans. The meeting concluding with the bill still up for voting and was to be continued at the next meeting.
Bingeman Takes a Cat Nap
As all members of committees and Congressmen know the process of passing legislation can be long and often sometimes quite boring. But when it comes to passing important legislation that has to do with reviving our struggling American economy, should we expect for our committee members to be awake and passionate about the passing of the Small Business and Credit Act? Yes we should but for Congressmen Bingeman, I guess he doesn’t feel the same way as he catches some Z’s during the committee meeting discussing the Small Business and Credit Act today.
