House Clears Spending Bill

By a vote of 220 to 213, the House Friday morning passed President Biden’s $1.7 trillion spending bill, the Build Back Better Act. One Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), opposed the package, as did all House Republicans. The bill now moves to the Senate, where additional changes are expected.

ABA has compiled a staff analysis summarizing several provisions of the House bill of interest to the banking industry. Among the provisions are several tax changes, including the addition of a book based minimum tax, expansion of the net investment tax on certain owners of S banks, an excise tax on stock buybacks and others related to retirement accounts and affordable housing; funding for a new Small Business Administration direct lending program; a new program to provide direct grant to businesses and nonprofits in low-income communities; and changes to the National Flood Insurance Program.

Absent from the House bill was the controversial proposal that would require financial institutions to report information on gross inflows and outflows for all accounts above a certain de minimis level—something ABA and other banking trade groups strongly opposed. The association is closely monitoring the bill’s progress as it moves through the Senate, and urges bankers to remain in contact with their members of Congress to express their opposition. Read the staff analysis.