Overnight Finance: Obama, Castro call for embargo’s end; New wings for FAA

OBAMA, CASTRO PLEDGE TO END EMBARGO: In a joint press conference with Cuban President Raul Castro, President Obama said the trade ban between the U.S. and Cuba—already weakened thanks to several executive actions–would fall some time after he leaves office: http://bit.ly/1UJIYTz.

GROUP URGES PROBE ON SENATOR’S HEDGE FUND TIES: A watchdog group has filed complaints against Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.) with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Senate Ethics Committee, claiming the Republican may have broken the law by failing to disclose hedge fund investments.

{mosads}The Campaign for Accountability (CfA) on Monday said that Corker, who serves as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as a senior member of the Senate’s banking panel, “concealed information about his stake in hedge funds that are managed by his campaign donors.” http://bit.ly/1MjxPat.

PELOSI CALLS FOR EASTER BREAK DELAY: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other members of the Democratic leadership are calling on Speaker Paul Ryan to delay the upcoming holiday recess to consider public health emergency funding.

In a Friday letter to the Wisconsin Republican, the Democratic lawmakers urged postponing the two-week Easter recess that starts midway through the week until the House takes action on funding to address the Flint water crisis, Zika virus and opioid epidemic.

“The House must not adjourn before we take action to address these emergencies threatening the lives and the futures of so many American families,” they wrote: http://bit.ly/1Mjyd8R.

HAPPY MONDAY and welcome to Overnight Finance, where we’re endlessly fascinated by the pictures coming from Obama’s trip to Cuba. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.

Tonight’s highlights include a crackdown on Wall Street tipsters, a new pair of wings for the FAA and Bernie Sanders taking on a Pfizer tax deal.

See something I missed? Let me know at slane@digital-staging.thehill.com or tweet me @SylvanLane. And if you like your newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://www.digital-staging.thehill.com/signup/48.

I BELIEVE I CAN FLY: The House on Monday cleared legislation to renew Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs ahead of a March end deadline.

The measure, passed by voice vote, now heads to President Obama’s desk as the House nears a two-week holiday recess.

With time running out before the March 31 deadline, lawmakers turned to a short-term fix to ensure that FAA programs and the ability to collect aviation taxes remain authorized through July 15: http://bit.ly/1ReaRk6.

DEM WANTS WALL STREET TIPSTERS REVEALED: Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) is trying to reignite the debate over the political intelligence industry that funnels information from Congress to Wall Street.

The New York Democrat is reviving legislation that would require more disclosure of the shadowy industry, which sees tipsters descend on Capitol Hill in search of information that can be used for profitable trades.

Little is known about the prevalence of political intelligence work, though some estimate it could be a $400 million per year industry: http://bit.ly/1PnavDy.

GOP LAWMAKERS REVIVES ‘NO BUDGET, NO PAY’: A bill introduced in the House would revive a law Congress passed three years ago to withhold lawmakers’ pay if they don’t pass a budget.

The “No Budget, No Pay” measure lawmakers approved with great fanfare in 2013 expired after that year. And the concept hasn’t gained traction among the GOP this year, given the internal divisions currently hindering passage of a 2017 budget.

That didn’t stop Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) from introducing legislation to reinstate “No Budget, No Pay” as a way to pressure his own party to pass a spending blueprint: http://bit.ly/1T4mIDN.

SANDERS URGES TREASURY TO BLOCK PFIZER TAX DEAL: Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, is urging the Treasury Department to take action to prevent pharmaceutical giant Pfizer from reincorporating overseas to lower its taxes.

Pfizer announced in November that it would merge with Irish-based Allergan, with the new company keeping Allergan’s Irish tax residence. This type of transaction is known as a “corporate inversion.”

“Blocking this inversion would not only be sound fiscal policy, it would also act as a strong deterrent to other companies that are contemplating similar tax scams,” Sanders (I-Vt.) said Friday in a letter sent to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. The letter was sent from Sanders’s Senate office: http://bit.ly/1RdS3Bu.

‘PEPTA’ BISMOL: A Republican lawmaker Monday reintroduced a bill to bolster transparency for state and local government pensions.

The Public Employee Pension Transparency Act (PEPTA), authored by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), would force state and local governments to publish on a searchable website their pension liabilities. Those that don’t would lose the ability to offer tax-free bonds.

“Many state and local pension funds are hiding vast debts through accounting gimmicks,” said Nunes. “The taxpayers–who will be forced to pay off these enormous debts if pension systems go insolvent–have a right to know the true condition of these pension plans, and the systems’ participants need to know how secure their benefits are.” http://bit.ly/1RwlvzS.

POLL: SANDERS TAX PLAN MOST POPULAR: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has the most popular tax plan of any White House hopeful from either political party, according to a new survey.

Just over 26 percent of respondents like the Democratic presidential candidate’s tax strategy best, according to the WalletHub/Survey Monkey poll released Monday.

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton ranks second, with 13 percent preferring the former secretary of State’s outline instead: http://bit.ly/1T4mJYp.

NIGHTCAP: Apple’s next iPhone is going to be smaller (?) and cheaper (!!!) than ever before.

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