The chairman position is contingent upon the party majority outcome following the House elections next week.
11/1/2018 11:30
If Republicans continue to hold their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives after the Nov. 6 midterm elections, U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., could succeed House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, who is retiring this year due to term limits.
Currently, Republicans hold a 236-193 majority in the House of Representatives, with six vacancies. Democrats need a net gain of 23 seats to reach a majority in the House in 2019.
According to Reuters, opinion polls favor Democrats to pick up the seats they need to control the House after the elections, which could mean ranking committee member Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is next in line to serve as chairman.
“But if the Democrats fail?and the party’s edge on a generic ballot has narrowed to 7 percentage points as of Oct. 23, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling data?Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer, a key banking industry ally, is the front-runner to lead the panel,” Reuters reports.
Luetkemeyer is currently the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Consumer Credit and Financial Institutions. ACA International Board Members Roger Weiss, IFCCE, president of CACi in St. Louis, and Kevin Baich, vice president of Day Knight and Associates in Ballwin, Mo., recently had the opportunity to meet with Luetkemeyer as part of advocacy efforts on behalf of the industry.
The congressman told Reuters his background working at his family’s community bank and time as a state regulator in Missouri “have given him a strong grasp of the industry’s complex issues.”
“I’ve been at both sides of the desk. There’s very few people in Congress who have done that,” Luetkemeyer said.
The Reuters piece notes Luetkemeyer’s priorites in reference to scaling back rules under Dodd-Frank and placing additional restrictions on the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
“I’m a big economic freedom guy,” he told Reuters. “Our system is working. What we need to do is get the government out of the way.”
Other leadership changes on the committee are expected after the elections due to Hensarling’s retirement. U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., vice chairman and deputy whip, could succeed Hensarling unless he is tapped for a higher position within Republican leadership. Other frontrunners for Hensarling’s committee leadership role are Sean Duffy, R-Wis., and Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., ACA International previously reported.
However, Luetkemeyer told Reuters he would not pursue the chairman role if McHenry seeks to fill the position.
Read more on the outlook for the elections in the Reuters article and in a report from ACA International’s Vice President of Congressional and Political Affairs Rae Ann Bevington in the October issue of Collector magazine.
And don’t forget, your vote counts! If you are traveling to Chicago Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, for ACA International’s 2018 Fall Forum and Expo, plan ahead and vote absentee. Visit this website to learn more: https://www.usa.gov/absentee-voting
Editor’s note: The House Financial Services Committee has jurisdiction over issues relevant to the accounts receivable management industry including banking, the economy and securities and exchanges.