Policy News – March 12, 2020

This Week, Congressional Lawmakers kicked off discussions of an economic stimulus package to aid the American economy in the face of coronavirus outbreak. Following his meeting with President Trump, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to begin bipartisan negotiations on a path forward. The House is expected to release a legislative framework on the stimulus package as early as Friday.

On the small business front, today the House Small Business Committee will hold bill markups on the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act. The items being marked up include:

  •  H.R. 6079, the Microloan Improvement Act of 2020, a bill to optimize the operations of the microloan program, lower costs for small business concerns and intermediary participants.
  • H.R. 6078, the Microloan Transparency and Accountability Act of 2020, a bill to increase transparency and to enhance the use of microloans in rural areas.
  • H.R. 6133, the STEP Improvement Act of 2020, a bill to reauthorize the State Trade Expansion Program of the Small Business Administration.
  • H.R. 6021, the Northern Mariana Islands Small Business Development Act,a bill to ensure that the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is eligible for certain Small Business Administration programs.

 

Floor Proceedings

House: In Session

Senate: In Session

 

Committee Proceedings

House Committee on Financial Services

  • On March 24th, the Subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy will hold a hearing titled, “A Review of Domestic and International Approaches to Digital Currencies.”
  • On March 25th, the Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets will hold a hearing titled, “The End of LIBOR: Transitioning to an Alternative Interest Rate Calculation for Mortgages, Student Loans, Derivatives, and Other Financial Products.”

 

Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

  • Today the Committee will hold a hearing titled, “The Coronavirus and America’s Small Business Supply Chain.”

 

Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

  • On March 24th, the full Committee will hold a hearing titled, “Oversight of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.”
  • On March 24th, the Subcommittee on Economic Policy will hold a hearingtitled, “U.S. – China: Winning the Economic Competition.”