CBO to release limited analysis of ObamaCare repeal bill next week: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Monday it’s aiming to provide a “preliminary assessment” of an ObamaCare repeal bill sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) by early next week.
The score will include information on whether the legislation would reduce deficits by at least as much as was estimated for the House repeal bill passed earlier this year. It will also assess if the bill would save at least $1 billion and whether it would increase on-budget deficits in the long term.
But the nonpartisan scorekeeper warned the preliminary score will not include information on how the bill will affect health care coverage or insurance premiums. The CBO said it will be several more weeks before analysts will have those projections: http://bit.ly/2fvEulu.
House considers harsher rules for banks with North Korean ties: The House Financial Services Committee is considering a bill that would ban any foreign bank that does business with North Korea from the United States financial system.
{mosads}
The potential move comes as the North Korean government expands the scope and power of its missile program.
The Financial Services panel is exploring ways to further isolate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by putting pressure on his allies to stop supporting the North Korean economy and military.
Committee members from both parties have expressed support for the Financial Services bill, currently circulating as a discussion draft, while other panels in both chambers of Congress work on their own offerings.
The bill could have massive economic implications for the United States and its relationship with China. But supporters say North Korea’s belligerent behavior and recent test of what appeared to be a hydrogen bomb requires a major response. I explain here: http://bit.ly/2fv6ghI.
Biden rejects universal basic income idea popular in Silicon Valley: Former Vice President Joe Biden is coming out against the universal basic income idea that is gaining traction in Silicon Valley and some European nations, arguing instead that the U.S. needs to “build a future that puts work first.”
“Our children and grandchildren deserve the promise we’ve had: the skills to get ahead, the chance to earn a paycheck, and a steady job that rewards hard work,” Biden wrote in a blog post for the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware.
Some prominent voices in the technology industry, such as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, have recently championed the idea of a universal basic income. Supporters of the idea have argued that a guaranteed income from the government could assist those who’ve lost their jobs due to technological advances.
But Biden said there’s a “better way forward,” calling for policymakers to prioritize employment. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda has more here: http://bit.ly/2xtJ7pK
DOJ: CitiFinancial to pay $907,000 for repossessing cars of active duty military: CitiFinancial Credit Co. has agreed to pay $907,000 to resolve allegations that CitiFinancial Auto Corp. illegally repossessed cars owned by active members of the military, the Department of Justice announced Monday.
The Justice Department claims CitiFinancial repossessed 164 cars without court orders in violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The law protects service members against certain civil proceedings, including vehicle repossessions, during active military service.
The agency said in several cases, loan servicing notes indicated the company had been informed that the borrower was in the military or had received orders to report for military service and repossessed the vehicle anyway. Here’s more from The Hill’s Lydia Wheeler: http://bit.ly/2fvEpy3.
Happy Monday and welcome back to Overnight Finance. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.
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://bit.ly/1NxxW2N.
On tap tomorrow
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Event entitled “Proxy Season 2017: Examining Developments and Looking Forward to 2018,” 8:30 a.m. http://bit.ly/2wvlclA.
- Business Roundtable releases third quarter CEO economic outlook, 9:45 a.m.
- Senate Finance Committee: Hearing on corporate tax reform, 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2vYqLK0.
- Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) begins two-day meeting
The clock is ticking on Republican efforts to pass comprehensive tax reform.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) on Wednesday said the framework of a tax reform plan agreed to by House and Senate GOP leaders and the White House would be released the week of September 25.
That gives them roughly two weeks to finalize their blueprint even as many key players remain sharply divided and with many questions about what the final plan could entail.
Republicans want to cut tax rates, broaden the tax base and eliminate major deductions and the “Big Six” — Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn — have been pushing ahead.
Brady reportedly laid out an ambitious timeline in a meeting, with both chambers passing a budget resolution by mid-October.
The GOP needs to pass the resolution to use the fast-track “reconciliation” procedure, which will allow their tax package to avoid a Democratic filibuster in the Senate.
The Ways and Means Committee would then plan on releasing its tax bill after the budget process is completed.
Republicans, though, face a tightening window. Here’s why, and your look at the week ahead.
DOJ reportedly investigating Equifax stock sales: The Justice Department is said to be investigating possible violations of insider trading laws by top executives at credit reporting firm Equifax.
Bloomberg reported on Monday that investigators are examining stock sales made by three top executives at the company before Equifax disclosed a data breach in which hackers accessed the Social Security numbers and other personal information of as many as 143 million U.S. consumers.
Equifax has been under intense scrutiny for nearly two weeks since disclosing the breach, which went unnoticed for more than a month before it was discovered at the end of July.
Bloomberg was first to report earlier this month that three Equifax executives — Chief Financial Officer John Gamble, President of U.S. Information Solutions Joseph Loughran and President of Workforce Solutions Rodolfo Ploder — sold stock in the company totaling nearly $2 million in the days after the breach was discovered on July 29. These sales are now said to be under criminal scrutiny.
The company has said that the executives did not know about the breach at the time they made the sales.
The Hill’s Morgan Chalfant has more here: http://bit.ly/2wqP5sh
Dem reintroduces breach notification law in Equifax wake: Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) reintroduced a bill establishing a national breach notification law on Monday.
“There is much still to learn about the Equifax breach and its ramifications, what is abundantly clear, however, is that consumers are still not sure whether they were affected and what information was stolen,” Langevin said in a press release announcing the reintroduction of the Personal Data Notification and Protection Act, considered an Obama administration priority when it was introduced in 2015.
“Equifax has done a terrible job communicating about the breach to date, and this legislation will ensure that any future such breach has a single standard and one federal regulator to help get actionable information to consumers quickly,” Langevin continued: http://bit.ly/2fvqub6.
NY Gov. Cuomo eyes expanding cyber regs to credit reporting agencies: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced Monday his intent to expand the state’s strict cybersecurity standards for the financial sector to credit reporting bureaus.
The announcement comes on the heels of the massive Equifax breach, which could affect as many as 143 million Americans.
“A person’s credit history affects virtually every part of their lives and we will not sit idly by while New Yorkers remain unprotected from cyberattacks due to lax security,” Cuomo said, announcing the proposed regulatory change.
“Oversight of credit reporting agencies will help ensure that personal information is less vulnerable to cyberattacks and other nefarious acts in this rapidly changing digital world.” http://bit.ly/2fvYh45.
Home builder confidence slips after hurricanes: Home builder confidence fell this month after two hurricanes hit Texas and Florida, creating anxiety over labor and the cost of materials.
The latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) index showed on Monday that the market for new single family homes dropped three points to 64 in September from 67 in August.
“The recent hurricanes have intensified our members’ concerns about the availability of labor and the cost of building materials,” said NAHB Chairman Granger MacDonald, a home builder and developer from Kerrville, Texas.
“Once the rebuilding process is underway, I expect builder confidence will return to the high levels we saw this spring,” MacDonald said.
Overall, builders remain upbeat about the improvement of the housing market, which has struggled to achieve faster growth amid a lack of supply of homes for sale while demand grows. http://bit.ly/2fvmPdn.
GOP state lawmakers meet to plan possible constitutional convention: A group of GOP state legislators spent four days last week in Phoenix outlining how to run a constitutional convention that would pave the way for new amendments mandating a balanced budget and possibly congressional term limits.
Nineteen states including Arizona, Iowa and New Hampshire had representation at the meeting, according to The Associated Press, though no Democrats were present. Thirty-four states would need to sign on to the movement to call a new constitutional convention, which would be the first since the one that drafted the U.S. Constitution in 1787.
All 27 amendments since adopted have been proposed by Congress.
The idea of amending the Constitution has been popular in some conservative circles. In January, GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Mike Lee (Utah) introduced a balanced budget amendment, while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) called for a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on Congress: http://bit.ly/2fvX7Wh.
In case you missed it:
House sets aside Trump’s biggest budget cuts, by Niv Elis
Two Equifax executives resign in wake of massive data breach, by John Bowden and Ali Breland
Good reads from around the web:
Reuters: Ex-SAC trader says he forgot facts, seeks to void insider trading plea
WSJ: The Fed, a decade after the crisis, is about to embark on the Great Unwinding
Marketwatch: Student debt is delaying millennial homeownership by seven years
Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@digital-staging.thehill.com, vneedham@digital-staging.thehill.com, njagoda@digital-staging.thehill.com and nelis@digital-staging.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane, @VickofTheHill, @NJagoda and @NivElis