Votes

The House on Thursday approved a rule for two bills that would ease Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules related to capital formation.

Soon after the vote, done by unanimous consent, members were expected to debate one of the bills: H.R. 2940, which would allow small startup companies to solicit investors for startup capital.

The House on Wednesday afternoon approved four noncontroversial bills under a suspension of the rules, including two aimed at easing rules for small companies under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In a 420-2 vote, the House approved H.R. 1965, which would ease the current requirement that banks and bank holding companies must register with the SEC once they have more than 500 shareholders. The bill would allow banks to delay the decision to register until there are 2,000 shareholders, which supporters said would give small community banks more leeway in when they undertake the complex registration process.

The House on Tuesday evening unanimously approved a bill that would require the Peace Corps to adopt a comprehensive sexual assault response training program, including practices that allow for Peace Corps volunteers to be removed from potentially dangerous situations overseas.

The House approved the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act, S. 1280, by a 406-0 vote.

The bill is a reaction to recent news stories that say volunteers have been sexually assaulted and even killed. Back in January, Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) accused the Peace Corps of trying to cover up the rape of nearly 1,000 volunteers over the last decade.

The bill was approved by the Senate in late September, and House passage moves it to the Senate for President Obama's signature.

The House on Tuesday evening approved a non-controversial bill aimed at keeping state taxes low on wireless phone service companies.

By voice vote, the House approved H.R. 1002, the Wireless Fairness Act. That bill would impose a five-year moratorium on new "discretionary" state and local taxes. Supporters of the bill argue that states have jacked up taxes on these companies over the last decade, and that the companies suffer from a local tax burden that is several times higher than other companies face.

More than 70 Democrats supported the bill, and as such, passage under a suspension of House rules was not in doubt.

It’s the first time the House has approved a provision included in President Obama’s jobs package.

Passage was made even easier after the Obama administration announced it supported the bill.

Legislation creating a commemorative coin to mark the upcoming 75th anniversary of the Baseball Hall of Fame was approved by the House Wednesday, in a 416-3 vote.

All three "no" votes came from Republicans: Reps. Justin Amash (Mich.), Paul Broun (Ga.), and Ron Paul (Texas).

Tuesday debate on the bill was marked by friendly ribbing between Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and William Clay (D-Mo.). The Texas Rangers are leading the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 in the World Series; game six was postponed until Thursday night due to rain in St. Louis.

The House on Wednesday evening approved a rule that will allow members to consider two bills — one to repeal a widely opposed withholding tax requirement, and another bill to pay for that repeal. Members approved the rule in a 253-172 vote.

The main repeal bill is H.R. 674, which would eliminate the current requirement that government at all levels withhold 3 percent of payments to government contractors in order to ensure proper tax payments. That rule has never been implemented, and Republicans and Democrats are generally together in seeking to repeal it completely.

Democrats argued the bill could benefit Iran because of a company involved in the land swap.

The House on Tuesday approved legislation that would grant the congressional gold medal to the Montford Point marines, the first black marines recruited in World War II.

The bill, H.R. 2447, was approved unanimously in a 422-0 vote after debate earlier in the day in which several members noted that the Montford Point marines were trained separately in Montford Point, North Carolina, while their white counterparts were trained in Paris Island, South Carolina.