releases: https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/heidi-in-the-news?ContentRecord_id=6EBCCE62-E8D0-4D25-90C4-51C61E23C095
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/heidi-in-the-news?ContentRecord_id=6EBCCE62-E8D0-4D25-90C4-51C61E23C095 | Wall Street Journal: Two Weeks of Frenzied Negotiations Led to Bank-Relief Deal | 2017-11-17 | 2017 | 2017-11 | Democrat | House | ND | Heidi Heitkamp | H001069 | www.heitkamp.senate.gov | legacy | Andrew Ackerman WASHINGTON—On Halloween, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio huddled with fellow Democrats in his Senate offices to make an announcement: Months of talks between Mr. Brown and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo to roll back post-financial crisis rules had ended in failure. Unfazed, Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Jon Tester of Montana and Joe Donnelly of Indiana—all moderate Democrats facing re-election next year—said they would press for their own agreement with Mr. Crapo. What followed were nearly two weeks of frenzied behind-the-scenes talks, according to people familiar with the deliberations, as lawmakers worked to cut a deal before they left town on Thanksgiving break. “It was around the clock negotiations for a couple of weeks between us and our staffs, at the lunch counter, on the Senate floor, in offices, in cloakrooms,” Mr. Donnelly said in an interview. The deal, announced Monday, marked the first significant bipartisan agreement to relieve small and regional lenders from a number of restrictions of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul law. A similar effort in the prior Congress, led by Sen. Richard Shelby (R., Ala.), the then-chairman of the banking panel, ended in a bill no Democrats backed, dooming its chances to advance through the Senate. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, another moderate Democrat, also took part in the talks, the details of which weren’t shared with other Senate lawmakers until just before Mr. Crapo announced a deal Monday afternoon. The deal includes provisions that could drastically cut the number of banks subject to heightened Federal Reserve oversight by raising a key regulatory threshold to $250 billion in assets from $50 billion. Lawmakers at one point considered raising the $50 billion asset threshold to as high as $350 billion, the people said, before eventually settling on $250 billion. Though Republicans and some Democrats increasingly favor abandoning an arbitrary asset threshold in favor of giving the Fed more discretion to decide which banks to reel in for stricter oversight, Democrats involved in crafting the deal insisted on an explicit threshold, as a signal of where Congress thought the Fed should draw the line. “These bright lines are an indication of Congress’ tolerance,” one of the people said. Another provision, sought by Democrats, targets credit bureaus in the wake of the hackof Equifax Inc. that would require credit bureaus to freeze and unfreeze consumers’ credit for free once a year. Still other provisions are designed to aid community banks, including allowing them to follow simpler capital requirements and to have more flexibility under federal standards for residential mortgage lending. “For me the driving factor was getting community banks back in the mortgage-lending business and out from under completely unreasonable and unnecessary regulatory costs,” Ms. Heitkamp said in an interview. Mr. Crapo must now shepherd the legislation through the Senate in the face of vocal opposition from liberal Democrats such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Mr. Brown—who say the bill doesn’t do enough to help consumers, among other objections—and with competing priorities in the chamber, such as tax reform and spending negotiations. The measure isn’t expected to advance through the Senate until sometime next year and faces uncertain prospects in the House, which must also approve the provisions for them to go to the president’s desk. House Republicans, who passed a more sweeping rollback of the Dodd-Frank law earlier this year, aren’t yet sure how they will respond to the legislation once it clears the Senate, according to a GOP aide. Departing House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling of Texas has favored more sweeping legislation to roll back the Dodd-Frank law. Mr. Hensarling was noncommittal when asked about the Senate deal this week, describing the agreement as “a good start.” “I’m encouraged when the Senate does anything,” he said in a statement. “There is a lot of work to be done but I applaud the progress. We’ve been waiting for progress for quite some time.” Mr. Hensarling and other House Republicans have favored eliminating the bulk of Dodd-Frank in exchange for heightened capital requirements on large banks—regulatory changes Democrats won’t agree to. House Republicans could also press for more legislation reforms, such as overhauls to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s structure, which are unlikely to win Democratic backers. Monday’s deal is co-sponsored by 10 Republicans, including Tim Scott of South Carolina and Bob Corker of Tennessee, along with nine Democrats, including Tim Kaine of Virginia and Gary Peters of Michigan. That is enough to clear both the banking panel and the full Senate, assuming all or most Republicans in the chamber support the bill. Mr. Shelby, the former banking head who was unable to strike a bipartisan deal last Congress, isn’t listed as a co-sponsor but supports the bill, a spokeswoman said. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |