An amendment filed to the JOBS Act this week would have created a regulatory framework for covered bonds.
But the filing from Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Kay Hagan, D-N.C., didn’t quite make it to the bill for reasons Schoolhouse Rock didn’t quite get to.
There is a limit to how many amendments lawmakers can add. Filings can sometimes substitute portions of the actual bill or can be an add-on. But then other amendments can be filed that change portions of earlier amendments until a bill begins to look like a tree. Rules limit how many branches the tree can have.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., used a procedural maneuver this week to block any amendments to the JOBS Act – essentially flooding that amendment tree to its capacity, according to one congressional aide.
Therefore, the fast track covered bonds were on appears to have derailed yet again.
A bill from Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J. continues to linger in the House.
The long battle to get this new system in place drags on, and another day passes when Washington puts off the development of a future housing finance structure.
