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Chamber May Use Financial Reform in Annual Scorecard

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is raising the specter of the test vote on financial regulatory reform.

The business trade group sent a letter to Senators on Monday, saying the big-business group is likely to use votes on the bill, including the motion to proceed scheduled for Monday evening, in its annual How They Voted scorecard.

Chamber Executive Vice President for Government Affairs Bruce Josten urged opposition to the cloture vote in the letter. He wrote that the bill “fails to achieve the meaningful financial regulatory reform necessary for vibrant capital markets that is needed to fuel long-term economic growth and job creation.”

The chamber missive comes as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is expected to put a cloture vote to the test. Republicans are expected to hang together in opposing the bill.

The chamber has long opposed several parts of the package written by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. In particular, the group has spent $3 million lobbying against the creation of a stand-alone consumer protection bureau.

Additionally, the bill would “hinder or prevent legitimate end-users of derivatives from using these instruments to legitimately hedge the risk of their commercial operations,” according to Josten’s letter.

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