How it could play out
March 24, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)Between now and mid-April, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd and top committee Republican Senator Richard Shelby will try again to find compromise on reform.
The two failed to cut a deal last year after months of discussions. Dodd gave it another shot with Republican Senator Bob Corker in January and February, but they failed, as well.
With that disappointing record as a backdrop, and some stubborn disputes remaining on fundamental points of policy, the odds would not seem to favor a Dodd-Shelby agreement.
But the political ground is shifting under the Republicans and Shelby habitually waits until the last minute to close a deal. At the same time, Dodd is retiring at the end of the year and is highly motivated to produce a bill that will help define his legacy. So a bipartisan pact could yet emerge.
If a deal can be cut, putting Shelby’s considerable clout behind a revised bill, financial reform legislation would likely win Senate approval. That could happen by May.
The next step would be to merge the Senate bill with one approved in December by the House of Representatives. If that happened promptly, President Barack Obama could have a final bill on his desk to sign into law by June or July.
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