Page 5 - CIADA-Winter2020

NIADA LEGISLATIVE BRIEFS

The Election: House of Representatives Colorado), and lost one (Alabama). Two the election with Secretary of the Treasury
Senate races in Georgia did not result in Mnuchin leading the effort for The White
In the House, there were 236 Democrats any candidate receiving 50% or more of House and Hill Repubs and Speaker Pelosi
and 199 Republicans going into the elec- the vote, forcing a January 5th runoff. If the leading the effort for Hill Dems. However,
tion. The polling indication was that the Repubs win both or one of the seats, they since the election, Senate Majority Leader
Dems would pick up seats (anywhere from will retain the majority with either 52 or 51 McConnell has stepped in and is represent-
5 to 15), but instead they ended up losing seats. If, however, both go Democratic, then ing both The White House and Hill Repubs.
seats. Incomplete results at this time show it would be a 50/50 split with Vice President McConnell is pushing for a bill this year
222 Dems to 205 Repubs, with the re- Harris being the tie breaker vote (note two because he he believes that he has a better
maining 8 still to be confirmed. There are seats are actually independents who caucus chance at getting a bill more to the Repub’s
218 votes needed for a majority. While the with the Democrats). liking while President Trump is still in of-
Dems will continue to maintain a majori- fice than from the new Administration.
ty in the new Congress, looking ahead to The Senate held leadership elections this While the two sides have come closer to-
the midterm election two years away, the month, with the same elected on Repub gether in terms of the overall funding of
Repubs will only need to pick up a handful side (McConnell and Thune) and with the relief effort, they still are very far apart
of seats to gain a majority which has fre- the same on the Dem side (Schumer and in terms of scope. The House Democrats
quently happened in mid-term elections; Durbin). There is not much change in overall are pushing for a mega omnibus bill while
that is, the party that controls the White majority to minority ratios in the full Senate the Republicans want a smaller targeted ap-
House tends to lose seats. so the number of committee seats will remain proach. Of note, President-elect Biden has
mostly the same. There could be a shift in apparently weighed in and is advocating
House Leadership elections held this month committee members due to some leaving and for a bill this year, one that is less ambitious
resulted in no changes at the two highest being replaced because of election results or than what the Speaker and Minority Leader
levels in both parties - for the Dems, Pelosi because of Senate committee term limits on Schumer have proposed. Without stimulus
and Hoyer and for the Repubs McCarthy chair positions. The Senate has been histor- enacted by Dec. 31, a number of programs
and Scalise. The official vote for Speaker ically very slow at making chair, committee will expire, including expanded unemploy-
will occur the first day of the new Congress and subcommittee assignments, so these may ment benefits, student loan payment pause,
in January. The committee ratios of Dems not be finalized for a few months. eviction protection, paid family leave, and
to Repubs will be adjusted with the Repubs relief funds for states. Issue of interest to
gaining seats on committees. Committee ra- The Election: The White House the Association – and being advocated on
tios mirror the ratio of majority to minority in its behalf- include loans to small business-
the full House. Both caucuses have their own Watching with interest cabinet and under- es (extension of the Paycheck Protection
process to select committee assignments, and secretary key nominations as well as key Program), a streamlined process for for-
this usually happens in December. There will sublevel assignment at relevant agencies giveness of the loans, 501(c) entity loan eli-
be some “musical chair” situations with com- and The White House. gibility, employer liability protection, relat-
mittee and subcommittee chairs given the ed finance company eligibility for loans and
new Repubs, some of the Dems defeats, and 2020 Remaining Schedule: Highlight relevant tax matters.
a number of retirements. COVID Stimulus Legislation
Safety Recalls
The Election: Senate Congress is back in session. The focus is
on FY21 appropriations bills and a possible Status: No change since the last report.
Going into the election, the Senate was at COVID relief stimulus. Regarding COVID
53 Repubs and 47 Dems. The Dems flipped relief, there had been quite a bit of back The original Blumenthal bill (S.1971, in-
two seats in the election (Arizona and and forth for three to four months before troduced June 25, 2019), which requires

CLICK HERE TO READ/DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT

COLORADO’S SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE SESSION recently passed ten bills, which we
believe will not affect our industry but may help many of our customers.

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