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June 28, 2010 Monday 04:59 PM EST
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Death of US Senator Creates Math Problem for Financial Reform
Jesse A Hamilton
WASHINGTON
The death of Sen. Robert Byrd, the longest-serving member of Congress, may jeopardize the swift passage of Congress’ financial reform bill, which emerged from House-Senate negotiations at the end of last week. However, a delay isn’t a great worry to the insurance industry, which worked for months to extricate itself from most of the active regulatory elements of the legislation. Democratic proponents of the wide-reaching bill had intended to get the long-awaited reforms through their final votes in the House and Senate this week, before next week’s recess. But because one of the bill’s previous Republican supporters, Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, has objected to its final version and may not cast a yes vote, Democrats would have needed every vote they could muster — including Byrd’s. Byrd, D-W.Va., who died June 28 at age 92, had been in and out of the hospital recently and made some of his key recent votes from a wheelchair. But he had actually missed the Senate vote that approved that chamber’s earlier version of the financial reform bill. That vote had gone 59-39, earning the three-fifths majority needed to get past a Republican filibuster. But if Brown pulls his vote and the two Democrats who had voted against it the first time stick to their guns, Democrats may not have enough votes to pass the bill until Byrd is replaced. The Democratic governor of West Virginia is expected to soon appoint a Democratic caretaker senator to finish the remainder of Byrd’s term. But in his statement of consolation released after the news of Byrd’s death, Gov. Joe Manchin III didn’t mention succession plans. Because the chambers of Congress are now facing floor votes on a final “conference report” version of the financial reform legislation, it can no longer be amended. So, it would not be easy to strike a deal with Brown to ensure his support for the bill — known officially now as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, named for its chief proponents in the Senate and House. Brown had issued a statement after the negotiating committee produced its final version, saying he was “surprised and extremely disappointed” to hear about a last-minute addition of $18 billion in taxes and fees on banks. “While I’m still reviewing the bill’s details, these provisions were not in the Senate version of the bill which I previously supported. … I’ve said repeatedly that I cannot support any bill that raises taxes.”The bill is still expected to pass, however. That eventual approval would establish a new Federal Insurance Office, for the first time assigning a federal agency the task of watching the insurance industry.“We’re not too worried about a delay,” said Matt Brady, spokesman for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies. “It’s understandable with the death of Sen. Byrd.”Besides Byrd, Sen. Arlen Specter had also missed the previous Senate vote on financial reform, abstaining after his loss in Pennsylvania’s primary election. The two Democrats in opposition of the bill — on grounds that it didn’t go far enough — were Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis.(Jesse A. Hamilton, Washington bureau manager: Jesse.Hamilton@ambest.com)
June 29, 2010
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