Following the surprise of the Farm Bill coming up short of votes on the House floor last week, House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor (R-VA) had originally scheduled a vote of the Agriculture Departments FY 2014 budget, however it was pulled from the schedule on Monday and it is unclear if he will put it back on.
Focus is back on the Senate as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he will not agree to an extension of the Farm Bill, suggesting that the House take up the Senate version of the bill as they have successfully passed the Farm Bill the last two-years. The Senate has also reconvened to continue consideration of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S.744), including multiple amendments. According to several news sources there is optimism that this bill will pass in the Senate as it has strong bipartisan support.
Starting at 10 AM today, the Senate Appropriations began marking-up their respective energy and water FY 2014 appropriations bill with the House Appropriations Committee following suit tomorrow with their version of a bill at 10:30 AM tomorrow. Also in the news today, President Obama held a press conference to highlight his plan around climate change. The Administration will hold a conference call tomorrow that our office will be a participating in, to discuss what this means for the science, technology and innovation communities.
Today the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held a hearing titled “Private Student Loans: Regulatory Perspectives”. Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD) and ranking member Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) both shared their views of the burden and long-term impact of large amounts of debt held by students in higher education. Including the role this debt has on future economic growth and business ventures in the United States. Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) highlighted this point by sharing discussions she has had with representatives from the housing industry. Individuals with student loan debt are not as likely to qualify for housing loans and or business loans. Speaking to the regulatory concerns, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) shared her concerns around predatory practices reminding the committee the US government is on target to make approximately $186 billion dollars from student loan repayments over the next 10 years. She closed her statements by asking the panel of witnesses, if they agreed with the practice of the federal government providing loans to banks at ¾ of 1% and then having those financial institutions turning around lending money at a much higher rate.
Click here to find a list of the meetings scheduled for this week. If you have questions, concerns or would like additional information on these hearings, please do not hesitate to contact our office at (202) 772-5561.