WASHINGTON — As expected, Rep. Collin Peterson will be the only Minnesotan on the financial reform conference committee, tasked with hammering out a consensus between the House and Senate’s language on Wall Street reform.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed his widely-expected appointment late Wednesday when she released a list of Democratic House conferees. Rep. John Boehner unveiled the Republicans concurrently, while the Senate’s picks were released a few weeks ago.
Peterson was selected for his role as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. That panel has jurisdiction over derivatives, otherwise known as futures.
Peterson said in late May that merging the two bills is “not going to be impossible, but it’s not going to be easy,” citing end-user exemption rules as a potential sticking point.
Democrat Rep. Keith Ellison and Republican Reps. Michele Bachmann and Erik Paulsen are all members of the House Financial Services Committee, which formed the bulk of the House conferees. As relatively junior members, none were expected to be named to the conference panel.
However, Pelosi surprised politicos by appointing two freshmen to the committee, Mary Jo Kilroy of Ohio and Gary Peters of Michigan. Both hail from marginal constituencies.
Unlike the health care reform bill, Minnesotans may be able to watch the financial reform negotiations live as they unfold. Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has asked CSPAN to televise the conference committee hearings.
I don’t know about the two appointees from Ohio and Michigan, but Collin Peterson is a Blue Dog — just like every senator appointed to the conference committee of the health care bill. The original House bill was massacred somewhere along the way, probably for favoring patients over corporations.