Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, announced the victories that the Committee successfully secured in the Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations bill —legislation that provides $1.7 trillion to fund the Federal Government. The legislation includes several priorities of Democratic members of the Financial Services Committee that Congresswoman Waters championed as Chairwoman of the Committee. In addition, the bill provides several funding increases towards what the Chairwoman and Democrats on the Committee included in the House-passed Build Back Better Act.
Division AA Financial Services Matters
Title I—Registration for Index-Linked Annuities Act - This provision requires the SEC to establish a tailored form for registering the offering of index-linked annuities. This provision is based on H.R. 4865, sponsored by Representative Alma Adams (D-NC).
Title II—Masih Alinejad HUNT Act of 2022 - This provision creates an annual reporting requirement to assess the state of human rights inside Iran and authorizes mandatory sanctions on Iranian officials responsible for targeting dissidents and human rights advocates. This bill is based on S. 3347, sponsored by Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA).
Title III—Trading prohibitions - This provision amends the current trading prohibition for certain issuers that retain accounting firms that have not been inspected by PCAOB by shortening the number of permitted years of non-inspection from 3 years to 2 years. Until very recently, the PCAOB had been unable to inspect and investigate Chinese audit firms. This provision has based on H.R. 6285, sponsored by Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA).
Title IV—Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Improvement Act - This provision strengthens an existing anti-money laundering whistleblower program by setting a minimum whistleblower award amount and creating a funding mechanism to pay whistleblowers. This bill is based on H.R. 7195, sponsored by Representative Alma Adams (D-NC).
Title V— Small Business Mergers, Acquisitions, Sales, and Brokerage Simplification Act - This provision codifies an SEC decision to exempt from SEC and FINRA registration requirements qualifying M&A brokers that facilitate the sale of small private companies. This provision is based on H.R. 935, sponsored by Representative Bill Huizenga (R-MI).
Title VI— Public and Federally Assisted Housing Fire Safety Act - This provision requires the installation of hardwired or tamper-resistant, battery-powered smoke alarms in federally assisted housing. This provision is based on H.R. 7981, sponsored by Representative Madeleine Dean (D-PA).
Title VII—Benjamin Berell Ferencz Congressional Gold Medal - This provision recognizes the last living Nuremberg prosecutor, 102-year-old Benjamin Ferencz, with Congress’s highest expression of civilian appreciation. This provision is based on H.R. 6015, sponsored by Representative Lois Frankel (D-FL).
Title VIII— Congressional Oversight Commission Expiration - This provision moves up the termination date to mid-2023 for the Congressional Oversight Commission. Created by the CARES Act, this five-member panel oversaw since-discontinued COVID emergency lending programs administered by the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve.
Title IX—NFIP Extension: Extends the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) through September 30, 2023. The provision has two components: (1) it extends NFIP’s authorization to sell flood insurance policies, and (2) it extends NFIP’s authorization to borrow from Treasury to cover claims should program funds be insufficient.
Additional FSC Provisions
Sec. 7072. Multilateral Development Banks - This provision authorizes the U.S. replenishments of the International Development Association (IDA) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Subsection (a) authorizes the Treasury to provide up to $3.5 billion towards the twentieth replenishment of the IDA, the arm of the World Bank that provides concessional finance to developing countries. Subsection (b) authorizes the Treasury to provide up to $177 million towards the twelfth replenishment of the ADB.
Division L— TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2023
$25 million for new Housing Choice Vouchers to help an additional 11,700 households. This reflects investments provided in the Build Back Better Act to assist an estimated 260,000 families over 8 years.
$85 million in competitive Community Development Block Grants to States and local governments, metropolitan planning organizations, and other eligible entities to incentivize the elimination of exclusionary, restrictive zoning and land uses to advance fair housing and support the creation of affordable housing in every community. This reflects the priorities of the Unlocking Possibilities provision of the Build Back Better Act.
$225 million in competitive grants to preserve and revitalize manufactured housing and resident-owned manufactured housing communities for the benefit of residents and long-term affordability of their communities. This reflects funding provided in the Build Back Better Act to preserve the affordability of resident-owned manufactured housing communities and prevent displacement.
