During the past year, I’ve often used this space to warn of the dangers of FINRA (the self-regulatory organization for broker-dealers) extending its jurisdiction to investment advisory firms. While I will most certainly return to that extremely important subject (the House Financial Services Committee is expected to take up a bill on an SRO for advisors very soon), in this post I would like to focus on the so-called “supercommittee” that will provide us with the next round of political-football-with-real-world consequences.
Here are a few questions—and answers—about the Super Committee:
Q: How is the Supercommittee structured?
A: There are 12 members of Congress on the committee: three members each were appointed by the Speaker (Rep. Boehner) and Minority Leader (Rep. Pelosi) of the House and three members each were appointed by the Majority Leader (Sen. Reid) and Minority Leader (Sen. McConnell) of the Senate.
Q: Who serves on the Super Committee?
A: Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) co-chairs the committee. Other Democratic Senators are Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.). The Republican Senators are Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), and Pat Toomey (R-Penn.). Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) co-chairs the committee. Other House Republicans are Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Dave Camp (R-Mich.). House Democrats are Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).
Q: What is the mission of the supercommittee?
A: The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction—established by an act of Congress on August 2, 2011 (the same law that ended the debt-ceiling crisis)—is charged with identifying $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction steps.
Q: What is the deadline for action by the supercommittee?
A: The day before Thanksgiving—Nov. 23—is D-Day for the supercommittee (actually, the committee needs to have its recommendations submitted to the Congressional Budget Office on Monday, Nov. 21, so CBO can “score” them before the House and the Senate vote on them).