Lobbyist: Without GOP Support, Dodd Bill in Jeopardy

If Sen. Christopher Dodd cannot get any Republican support for his new financial services regulatory reform bill, it is highly unlikely the legislation will ever reach the Senate floor, according to a top banking lobbyist. The Senate Banking Committee is slated to begin a markup of the massive reform bill on Monday (March 22). Right now Chairman Dodd has no Republican support for his bill, according to Floyd Stoner, chief lobbyist for the American Bankers Association. If the committee approves Dodd's bill on a straight party-line vote, "it is almost certain not to get to the Senate floor, unless there are further negotiations after that point," Stoner told his bankers at ABA's Washington summit. After the committee starts the markup, the members might realize "it is possible to work out a bipartisan agreement," he said. In that case, the negotiations would begin again in private. ABA opposes Dodd's latest bill and his proposal to create a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that would be housed at the Federal Reserve Board. Stoner said the CFPB would be too independent of the Fed and other banking regulators. ABA lobbyists are amazed that some liberals are attacking Dodd's CFPB proposal.