In the news:
Originally published January 30, 2012 at 8:16 PM | Page modified January 30, 2012 at 8:41 PM
Senate clears the way for vote on insider-trading ban
By a vote of 93-2 the Senate on Monday cleared the way for passage — possibly later this week — of a bill that would require...
The Associated Press
The day in D.C.
Aviation compromise: More than a dozen unions — including the Teamsters, Communications Workers, Machinists and Flight Attendants — on Monday denounced a deal in Congress that would make it harder for them to organize airline and railroad workers as part of a long-term funding bill for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The GOP-controlled House wanted to completely overturn a federal-agency ruling allowing airline workers to form a union by a simple majority, triggering a standoff last summer that led to a two-week partial shutdown of the FAA and the furlough of nearly 4,000 workers.Transportation bill: House Republicans are proposing to spend about $260 billion over the next 4-½ years on transportation programs, as well as substantially increase the size of trucks permitted on highways, according to a draft bill being introduced this week.
Debt collector: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Monday that Michigan-based Asset Acceptance, one of the nation's largest consumer-debt buyers, will pay a $2.5 million civil fine to settle deception allegations and change the way it collects debt. The company buys unpaid debts from credit-card companies, utilities, health clubs and others. The FTC alleged that Asset tried to collect debt in some cases that wasn't even owed.
Military leave: The Obama administration proposed new rules Monday to help military families care for service members when they are injured or called to active duty on short notice. The proposal expands eligibility under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows employees to take unpaid leave for certain medical or family emergencies.
Buffett rule: Democratic senators announced Monday that they would introduce legislation this week codifying President Obama's principle that the superrich should pay at least the tax rate of middle-class workers.Households with adjusted annual gross incomes over $1 million would do their taxes as they do now, with all the deductions, credits and loopholes intact. They also would calculate what 30 percent of their adjusted gross incomes amounts to. They would then pay whichever amount is larger.
Seattle Times news services
WASHINGTON — By a vote of 93-2 the Senate on Monday cleared the way for passage — possibly later this week — of a bill that would require disclosure of stock transactions within 30 days and explicitly prohibit members of Congress from initiating trades based on nonpublic information they acquired in their official capacity.
The legislation, at least partly symbolic in nature, is aimed at answering critics who say lawmakers profit from businesses where they have special knowledge. U.S. lawmakers already are subject to the same penalties as other investors who use nonpublic information to enrich themselves.
A recent segment of CBS' "60 Minutes" in November questioned trades by a House committee chairman, the current speaker and his predecessor's husband. Speaker John Boehner, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., all denied wrongdoing. Bachus chairs the Financial Services Committee.
Said Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., one of the bill's authors: "Beginning today, the Senate is embarking on a mission to help address the deficit of trust with the American people."
The bill is entitled the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act. President Obama endorsed it in his State of the Union speech last week and also raised the issue in his radio and Internet address Saturday.
The Senate bill would prohibit lawmakers from tipping off family members or others about nonpublic information that could influence a stock's price, in addition to the explicit ban itself, and would require members to disclose stock transactions within 30 days. And it would direct the House and Senate ethics panels to write rules that would make insider-trading violators subject to congressional punishment.
Other legislative-branch employees also would be subject to the ban, but only those who are required to file annual financial-disclosure statements would be subject to the reporting requirement. For 2012, employees making $119,554 or more are required to file disclosure statements.
House leaders hope to pass their version of the bill by the end of February, and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said he wants to expand the legislation to include land deals and other transactions.
