Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Wall Street wins House SBIR Fight by TKO - But It's Not Over!

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Wall Street won the House SBIR battle today by default. The House Rules Committee disqualified Main Street's avatar. They refused to allow the Markey Amendment to be voted upon. Why? Good question.

The House Parliamentarian declared the Markey Amendment "germane and pertinent" to H.R.2965. But the Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) decided that the Amendment was "out of order" and not to be voted upon, so it was blocked.

Do you suppose she did that because it may have actually passed? After all she is a New Yorker, just as is Chairwoman Velazquez, who was adamantly opposed to the Amendment.

I hear rumors that there will be some Dear Colleague letters sent from the House Members who were in favor of the Amendment and are very unhappy about what's happened. Who the letters will be sent to remains to be seen.

So, H.R.2965 passes the House. Final vote was 386-41. Text will be up on GovTrack tomorrow.

Now it goes to the Senate, which of course has S.1233. Markedly different.

This skirmish was lost, but the battle is not over. A Conference Committee will ultimately decide this.

Oh goodie. Are we in for more behind closed doors shenanigans? We'll try and figure out what to expect and keep you posted.

Thanks to all of you who so tirelessly kept the pressure on. You are appreciated.

I'm going out for a beer.

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7/9/2009 UPDATE: Rick Shindell published a new Insider letter last night that has details on the amendments to H.R.2965 that the Rules Committee did and did not accept. What a crock! This has nothing to do with partisan politics. It's simple. Please tell me we don't have some of the best Committee Chairs that money can buy! That Hefeweizen I had almost took away the bad taste that's in my mouth. Almost.
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