No Filibuster for Financial Reform

The air of suspense surrounding the fate of financial reform Senate has dissipated as another Republican has indicated support for the sweeping legislation.

In a statement, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R.—Maine) acknowledged she will enable cloture on H.R. 4173, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. “To ensure we avoid another financial catastrophe such as the one that plunged our nation into the worst recession since the Great Depression, it is imperative that we implement an aggressive overhaul of the American financial regulatory system,” Snowe said. “And this effort must include real and substantial consequences for those whose reckless actions caused the crisis in the first place while guaranteeing the transparency and accountability of taxpayer dollars.”

Snowe’s decision comes on the heels of Sen. Scott Brown (R.—Mass.) also endorsing bill, ensuring that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D. Nev.) has the 60 votes necessary to move the legislation to Senate floor for a vote, expected later this week.

The 2,315-page bill substantially rewrites the rules under which financial services firms are regulated and for the first time creates an agency, the Federal Insurance Office, dedicated to insurance. However, insurers are largely untouched by broad swaths of the legislation including the Consumer Financial Protection Board.

 

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