HOW TEXANS VOTED

WASHINGTON — How the Texas congressional delegation voted on major issues last week:

Senate

1. Expanded veterans’ benefits:

Failed, 56-41, to reach 60 votes needed to overcome Republican blockage of a bill (S1982) that would expand veterans’ benefits at a cost of $21 billion over several years in areas such as physical and mental health care, college-tuition assistance, transition to civilian employment and military retirement pay. To pay for itself, the bill would cut other veterans’ programs and tap into savings resulting from U.S. troop withdrawals in Iraq and Afghanistan. But GOP critics said the entire “pay for” should come from actual budget cuts. They also objected to Democrats not allowing a vote on a bipartisan amendment that would impose new economic sanctions on Iran during ongoing U.S. negotiations with Tehran over curbing the Iranian nuclear program. A yes vote was to advance the bill over budget objections raised by Republicans.

House

1. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau:

Passed, 232-182, a Republican bill (HR 3193) to reduce the authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The bill enables the Financial Stability Oversight Council in the Treasury Department to veto the bureau’s proposed regulations by simple majority vote rather than the two-thirds majority now required. It also would replace the bureau’s director with a five-person governing body and subject its budget to the congressional appropriations process. Established by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financialregulation law, the bureau has authority to write and enforce pro-consumer rules for retail banks and other companies that sell financial services to households and individuals. The bureau is barred from regulating auto dealerships or banks with less than $10 billion in assets. Based in the Federal Reserve, it operates independently with a budget derived from fees and a chairman nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.

2. Payday lenders to the military:

Defeated, 194- 223, a Democratic motion to prevent HR 3193 (above) from impeding Consumer Financial Protection Bureau oversight of payday lenders located on or near military bases, its efforts to help consumers deal with compromised credit cards or its policing of fraud in fees charged for student loans or ATM withdrawals. A yes vote was to adopt the motion.

3. New hurdles for regulators:

Passed, 236179, a Republican bill (HR 2804) to impose additional paperwork and public-reporting obligations on federal agencies as they go about drafting and implementing rules to carry out laws passed by Congress. Agencies would be required to file monthly reports on the content, status and legal basis of rules they are developing. The Office of Management and Budget unit that receives these filings would have to post them on the Internet and then publish detailed annual reports on all aspects of federal rulemaking, including projected costs on the economy. The executive branch implements 3,000 to 4,000 regulations each year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where it is expected to die.

4. Rules to help veterans, seniors, women:

Defeated, 187-229, a Democratic bid to prevent HR 2804 (above) from interfering with regulations that expedite veterans’ benefits; protect the health and safety of seniors, children and consumers; ensure pay equity for women; provide refunds and rebates to taxpayers; aid small businesses; prevent discrimination; safeguard drinking water and protect food supplies from foodborne diseases. A yes vote backed the motion.

5. Rules for tax-exempt organizations:

Passed, 243-176, a Republican bill (HR 3865) to delay new rules for the treatment of nonprofit organizations. Existing law allows these groups to receive taxexempt status and keep their donors secret if they are primarily or exclusively engaged in promoting social welfare. The proposed new rules would clarify the distinction between overt political advocacy and activities that promote social welfare. Republicans urged delay until they finish their probe of IRS targeting of conservative groups’ 501(c)4 applications. Democrats said in debate the IRS has acknowledged also giving special scrutiny to progressive groups’ applications for tax-exempt status. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where it is expected to die.

6. Secret political funding:

Defeated, 191230, a Democratic bid to ensure that no provision of HR 3865 (above) would prohibit the Department of the Treasury from proposing rules that require political donors to organizations to be publicly identified. A yes vote backed the Democratic motion.