WASHINGTON — The Senate Banking Committee will gain two new members after an official Senate action on Tuesday.
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and newly elected Alabama Democrat Doug Jones are joining the panel. The additions raise the total number of members on the panel to 25, with Republicans having 13 seats to Democrats' 12.
Moran was on the banking panel previously and has been active on banking issues, including co-sponsoring a regulatory relief deal between the banking panel's chairman, Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and moderate Democrats on the committee. The bill, which will be the most significant change to the Dodd-Frank Act since it passed in 2010, is likely to be passed by the Senate in the coming weeks.
Jones is the most recent senator, having won an upset challenge last month against judge Roy Moore in a special election to replace former Sen. Jeff Sessions, who became attorney general. Jones’ views on banking are unknown. The former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama has been called a progressive Democrat. He joins fellow Alabama senator Richard Shelby, who previously chaired the banking panel.
Alabama is home to the $122 billion-asset Regions Bank and the $85 billion-asset Compass Bank, both of which are headquartered in Birmingham.
Crapo and Sen. Sherrod Brown, the top Democrat on the committee, issued a joint statement after the announcement saying Moran and Jones “will provide great perspectives and a depth of knowledge to the committee, and we look forward to working with them as we address the critical issues before us.”
Paul Merski, executive vice president of congressional relations at the Independent Community Bankers of America, welcomed the announcement saying in an email that Moran “has been a champion of reasonable” regulatory relief measures.
