IN BIPARTISAN VOTE, SENATE EASES BANK REGULATIONS

WASHINGTON» In a rare bipartisan vote, the Senate eased some postfinancial crisis bank regulations.

Nearly eight years after Congress dramatically toughened banking regulations in the wake of the financial crisis, the Senate took a rare bipartisan step and voted Wednesday to ease some rules on small and midsize banks.

But larger banks also get some breaks in the legislation, a move that led to strong opposition from liberal Democrats who warned those moves increased the risk of another financial meltdown.

Still, a group of moderate Democrats — several of whom face reelection this fall in states handily won by President Trump — joined with Republicans in voting 67-31 to enact the first major rollback of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law.

“This bill … is designed to protect community banks and credit unions and that’s why we have such bipartisan support for it,” said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, the legislation’s lead sponsor.

The bill faces an uncertain future in the House, where Republicans last year passed a more sweeping financial deregulation bill. But House Republican leaders could decide the Senate’s more modest changes are the best Congress can do at this point and pass the Senate bill. President Trump is likely to sign any bill that reduces regulations. — Tribune News Service