With time running out, the likelihood of a free-standing bill to capitalize the Savings Association Insurance Fund is evaporating.
Instead, sources said the best alternatives for enacting the rescue are attaching it to an omnibus budget bill or to a commemorative-coin bill the House approved Wednesday.
The budget bill, called the "continuing resolution," is expected to be one of the last measures passed before Congress adjourns Sept. 28. It is considered a "must pass" bill and will contain fiscal 1997 appropriations for any government operations not funded if lawmakers fail to pass all 13 spending bills they are now working on.
The coin bill, which authorizes commemorative quarters honoring the 50 states, now goes to the Senate where Banking Committee Chairman Alfonse M. D'Amato could attach the thrift bailout plan and his regulatory relief package.
A conference committee of both representatives and senators would then iron out a final version.
Still, on Thursday House Banking Committee Chairman Jim Leach continued to work on a combination thrift fund fix/regulatory relief bill. "The continuing resolution and the coin bill are options, but Chairman Leach prefers to do a stand-alone bill," said a spokesman for the Iowa Republican. "Still, he won't let format get in the way of getting something done."
But sources said House GOP leaders won't schedule a vote if his final package isn't completed today.
Kenneth A. Guenther, executive vice president of the Independent Bankers Association of America, said Rep. Leach's plan faces long odds because it requires the backing of bank and insurance groups as well as House Democrats. "Chairman Leach hasn't been able to get all the groups to support his bill," he said.
Democrats don't like provisions in the regulatory relief package that weaken the Community Reinvestment Act and consumer protection rules. Banks are threatening to block the legislation rescuing the thrift fund if regulatory relief is watered down.
"We can't support a package without meaningful regulatory relief," said Edward L. Yingling, chief lobbyist for the American Bankers Association. He declined to say which or how many of the 30-odd provisions in the bill must be maintained in order for the ABA's endorsement to hold.
In addition to debate over regulatory relief provisions, Rep. Leach's efforts are further complicated by industry demands that the bill free banks from costs of cleaning borrowers' toxic waste sites. The banking committee doesn't have jurisdiction over environmental matters and House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas Bliley must agree to the provision.
The ABA has vowed to fight any thrift fund plan lacking such a provision. "Environmental liability must be in the bill," Mr. Yingling said.
The ABA also threatens to fight if Rep. Leach gives in to insurance industry groups by restricting bank insurance powers.
The Independent Insurance Agents of America are still pushing for restrictions on banks, but have dropped a demand that the bill ban the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency from granting new insurance powers to banks.
Instead, the agents want Congress to close a "loophole" that allows state banks to retain insurance activities when they convert to national charters. The Comptroller's Office last year allowed Magna Bank of Missouri to switch charters and retain its 33 insurance agency offices, even though such operations by national banks are forbidden.
The agents also want to forbid banks from selling the "retirement CD."
