TheMReport

TH E M R EP O RT | 57 O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G DATA G O V E R N M E N T S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T GOVERNMENT THE LATEST The Coming of the CHOICE Act The replacement for the Dodd-Frank Act may be arriving faster than many expected. C hanges to Dodd-Frank Act made by the Financial CHOICE Act, which was passed in the House earlier this summer and now awaits passage in the Senate, could come sooner than expected if a spending bill continues to move through the House. The bill, which was recently pushed through the House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee, contains numerous riders that echo requirements from the Financial CHOICE Act, includ - ing limiting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's supervisory authority by capping what the Bureau can spend its budget money on. It would also roll back the Volcker Rule, which bars banks from using their own accounts to make what could be considered speculative and risky investments that don't directly benefit the banks' customers. Sections of the Truth in Lending Act are also amended. Passing of the spending bill was met with mixed reaction from subcommittee mem - bers and passed on a party-line vote. Rep. Tom Graves (R-Georgia) acknowledged that the bill takes significant power away from the federal government, which is one of the main goals of the Financial CHOICE Act. Attaching riders to funding and/or budget legislation is an old, yet controver - sial way lawmakers pass legislation that otherwise might not make it through the entire process of becoming a law. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-New York) said of the bill, "This bill embodies the worst of the damage [deregulation] would inflict on American families and the worst of a broken and secretive process." One such example of the way the bill could loosen regulations on banks would be to reclassify the definition of a small bank holding company by raising the con - solidated asset threshold, thereby allowing more institutions to be classified as small banks and not subject to the same regula- tions. From the bill: "CHANGES REQUIRED TO SMALL BANK HOLDING COMPANY POLICY STATEMENT ON ASSESSMENT OF FINANCIAL AND MANAGERIAL FACTORS SEC. 919. (a) IN GENERAL.—Before the end of the 6-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall revise the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement on Assessment of Financial and Managerial Factors (12 CFR part 225—appendix C) to raise the consoli - dated asset threshold under such policy statement from 23 $1,000,000,000 (as adjusted by Public Law 113–250) to $10,000,000,000." The bill will next be considered by the full Appropriations Committee, although no further action is scheduled. Senators Demand LGBTQ Protections from HUD Nearly 30 Congressmen and-women penned a letter to HUD Secretary Ben Carson. I n a letter to Secretary Ben Carson, Sen. Catherine Cor- tez Masto (D-Nevada) and 28 U.S. senators advocated that the resources protecting LGBTQ people from housing discrimina- tion need to be reinstated fol- lowing their recent removal from HUD's website. "It is concerning that HUD apparently removed these tools from its website, which are meant to assist grantees in meeting their underlying obligations under the law," the Senators wrote in the letter. "Without these training resources, housing service provid - ers will face additional challenges in trying to understand how best to meet the needs of their clients. The guidance resources that were withdrawn or removed are critical to ensuring nondiscrimina - tion rules are fully and faithfully implemented." According to the letter, 40 percent of all youth experiencing homelessness are LGBTQ , and one in three transgender people report having experienced homeless - ness at some point in their lives. A study also found that only 30 percent of shelters were willing to properly accommodate transgen- der women. This is concerning to the Senators because HUD has withdrawn a proposed policy that would require emergency shelters funded by HUD to hang a poster alerting residents of their right to be protected from anti-LGBTQ discrimination and a proposed survey evaluating the impact of the LGBTQ Youth Homelessness Prevention Initiative. According to the Senators, HUD has also removed for items from their website: a guide instructing HUD grantees on how to ensure equal access for transgender people; a self-assess - ment tool that allows shelters to evaluate how well they are doing in ensuring compliance with anti- discrimination regulations and best practices; a "decision tree" guiding shelters on how well their engagement, assessment, referral, enrollment, bed assignment, and ongoing service provision prac - tices were providing equal access to LGBTQ people; and train- ing scenarios that help instruct providers on how to best deal with real-life situations that may arise in a manner that ensures equal protection. The letter cited a quote from Carson at a House and Senate hearing when he said, "the only reason that [HUD] would remove anything is to look at it and determine whether it is effective" and that HUD "want[s] to make decisions based on real evidence and facts." Based on that quote, the Senators are asking Carson to "review the actions and describe precisely what evidence and facts justify these actions, and act promptly to restore resources to HUD's website guiding providers on how to fulfill their nondiscrim - ination requirements under law."

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