Federal Legislative Developments

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Amid the partisan atmosphere of the Senate’s marathon debate on healthcare reform, leaders of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee last week sought to revive the notion that Democrats and Republicans are working together to craft financial regulatory reform legislation. …
Read More Renewal of Bipartisanship in Senate Banking Committee

After a prolonged floor debate that kept Senators in session through weekends for 25 consecutive days, the Senate completed its work on healthcare reform legislation in the early morning hours on Christmas Eve.  The vote on final passage of the Senate’s bill – H.R. 3590 – came at 7:00 a.m., when it passed by a tally of 60-39. 

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Read More Last Week in DC: The Healthcare Reform Debate – December 29, 2009

Privacy and data breaches are part of every company’s nightmare of what can go wrong. There is no company in any industry that is not exposed to risks and liabilities related to unauthorized access to personal information of individuals. The risk of data breaches, and the regulations governing company obligations to secure data, and to provide notification in the event of a breach, are increasing dramatically. …
Read More EAPD WEBINAR LINK: Privacy and Data Breaches

Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, proposed on December 16, 2009 rebuilding the barriers separating commercial banks, investment banks and insurers established under the Depression Era Glass-Steagall Act.  In 1999, the requirements that the three industries remain separate were eliminated by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. …
Read More Unscrambling the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Omelet

Congress recently approved another short-term extension of The National Flood Insurance Program (“NFIP”) through February 28, 2010.  The NFIP extension was included in a defense appropriations measure, and was approved shortly before the program was to expire. 

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Read More UPDATE: Congress Approves Another Short-Term Extension of the NFIP through February 28, 2010

Media reports indicate that Senator Patrick Leahy’s (D-VT) amendment to repeal the antitrust exemption under the McCarran-Ferguson Act for health insurers and medical mal practice insurers, last discussed here, has been removed from the latest version of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590). 

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Read More Partial Repeal of McCarran-Ferguson Act Dropped from Senate Health Reform Bill

Healthcare reform efforts were marked with uncertainty and skepticism in the Senate last week, as Democratic leaders continued their scramble to reach a consensus on the controversial bill before Christmas.  Those efforts continued behind the scenes into the weekend, and a compromise was finally unveiled on Saturday. 

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Read More Last Week in DC: The Healthcare Reform Debate – December 21, 2009

On Friday, the House passed its 1,200+ page package of nine bills to reform the U.S. financial regulatory system by a vote of 223-202.  Passage of the comprehensive measure – the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 4173) – wraps up months of House debate on the issue and marks an important step in the legislative process for one of the top priorities of the Obama Administration. 

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Read More Details of House-Passed Financial Regulatory Reform Legislation