Dear Friends,
Last Saturday was "Small Business Saturday," and to mark the occasion, I visited someone of my favorite local small businesses. As we enter this Holiday Season, I encourage all of you to "think locally" when doing your holiday shopping.
With so many great locally owned and operated small businesses in central Arkansas, this time of the year presents a perfect opportunity to help strengthen our local economy.
Growing our local economy is something I think about daily as your representative in Congress. It's that thought process that allowed me to vote for the highway bill on the House Floor this week. There were parts of the bill that I would not have voted for if they were stand alone provisions; however, in the interest of accomplishing what the people of Arkansas and America need and expect for long-term infrastructure planning, I was proud to vote for this bill.
This will be the first time since the George W. Bush Administration that we will have a long-term highway funding bill that gives us the flexibility to fund and finish our most crucial infrastructure projects without burdening hardworking American taxpayers. This legislation facilitates a plan to execute the road and bridge projects long-needed for our state. Infrastructure work also offers steady employment and enhances the economic profile of the Natural State.
Perhaps more importantly than highway funding itself, this entire process signifies something the American people have been asking from their government for a long time--the ability for both parties and both Houses of Congress to work together and solve the problems facing our Nation. And in putting a five-year highway bill on the President's desk, with overwhelming bipartisan support, you are witnessing real problem solving happening in Washington.
In a speech on Thursday afternoon, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan laid out his plans for his time as Speaker. His remarks were strong--he is a man of great vision--but as this week's highway vote showed us, he is also a man of action.
I am excited about the direction this Congress is heading, and I invite you to go to my Facebook page and provide me your thoughts on our new Speaker and his vision for America.
Sincerely,
Representative French Hill |
News for the Week
TRID is a real obstacle to mortgage process
HousingWire
Nearly two months into the new TRID world and the impacts of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Know Before You Owe mortgage disclosure rule, also called the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures rule, are starting to come to light. Despite reports saying that TRID hasn’t caused any major lending delays, the key word in all the reports is ‘yet.’ And while the issues may not be creating giant hurdles in the mortgage industry, they are still a direct result of TRID.
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$1.1 trillion in spending now focus of 6 in D.C.
With only two or three weeks left on the 2015 congressional calendar, members of the Arkansas delegation say that passing a spending bill to keep the government running is a top priority. Several lawmakers say they also have other pieces of legislation that they hope to see enacted in the final days of the year.
Read More
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Letter to Leadership
This week, on the two month anniversary of the implementation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule, Congressman French Hill (AR-2) and 21 other Members of Congress sent a letter to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers urging them to add the provisions of H.R. 3192, the Homebuyers Assistance Act, to any year end spending legislation.
H.R. 3192, which passed the House in October, would provide a formal hold-harmless period for those making a good faith effort to comply with the CFPB’s TRID rule. Since TRID’s implantation, many in the mortgage industry have complained that complying with the rule is difficult and is slowing the home-buying process.
You can read the full letter here.
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Floor Speech Recognizing "Arkansas's Father of State Preservation"
This week, Rep. Hill gave a speech on the House Floor to honor the life of Parker Westbrook, who passed away last month at the age of 89.
On the floor, Rep. Hill stated: "Parker and his vast love for historic preservation will be missed in Arkansas and throughout the country.
"Throughout his life, he was at the forefront of preserving Arkansas’s history, earning the nickname “Arkansas’s father of state preservation.
"Parker received numerous awards for his work including the Preservation Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and was acknowledged as a “National Treasure”.
You can watch Rep. Hill's full speech here.
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