Obama and McCain’s Votes on Bankruptcy Amendments
By Brett Weiss, Maryland Bankruptcy Attorney on Jul 6, 2008 in Bankruptcy Practice and Procedure, Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, General Bankruptcy Information, Maryland
In 2005, the changes to the Bankruptcy Code known as BAPCPA were adopted by the Congress. Previous articles discussing the candidates’ positions on BAPCPA may be found by reading Barack Obama on BAPCPA, Obama vs. McCain on Bankruptcy and Barack Obama on Bankruptcy/Credit Reform. Before the bill was passed, however, there were a number of amendments considered by the US Senate. Senators Obama and McCain’s votes on these amendments are instructive. (The amendments are shown in the order they were voted upon, rather than in the order they were submitted. Not all amendments reached the Senate floor for a vote. Only bankruptcy-related amendments are listed. The votes are linked to the official US Senate website vote tallies.)
Senate Amendment 16: To protect servicemembers and veterans from means testing in bankruptcy, to disallow certain claims by lenders charging usurious interest rates to servicemembers, and to allow servicemembers to exempt property based on the law of the State of their premilitary residence.
Senate Amendment 17: To provide a Homestead floor for the elderly.
Senate Amendment 15: To require enhanced disclosure to consumers regarding the consequences of making only minimum required payments in the repayment of credit card debt, and for other purposes.
Senate Amendment 23: To clarify the safe harbor with respect to debtors who have serious medical conditions or who have been called or ordered to active duty in the Armed Forces and low income veterans.
Note: This language does not appear in the bill as ultimately adopted by the Senate.
Senate Amendment 26: To restrict access to certain personal information in bankruptcy documents.
This amendment passed by unanimous consent.
Senate Amendment 28: To exempt debtors whose financial problems were caused by serious medical problems from means testing.
Senate Amendment 29: To provide protection to medical debt homeowners.
Senate Amendment 32: To preserve existing bankruptcy protections for individuals experiencing economic distress as caregivers to ill or disabled family members.
Senate Amendment 24: To amend the wage priority provision and to amend the payment of insurance benefits to retirees.
Senate Amendment 31: To limit the amount of interest that can be charged on any extension of credit to 30 percent.
Obama: Against
McCain: Against
Senate Amendment 37: To exempt debtors from means testing if their financial problems were caused by identity theft.
Senate Amendment 38: To discourage predatory lending practices.
Senate Amendment 42: To limit the exemption for asset protection trusts.
Senate Amendment 48: To increase bankruptcy filing fees to pay for the additional duties of United States trustees and the new bankruptcy judges added by this Act.
This amendment passed by unanimous consent.
Senate Amendment 49: To protect employees and retirees from corporate practices that deprive them of their earnings and retirement savings when a business files for bankruptcy.
Senate Amendment 47: To prohibit the discharge, in bankruptcy, of a debt resulting from the debtor’s unlawful interference with the provision of lawful goods or services or damage to property used to provide lawful goods or services.
Senate Amendment 89: To strike certain small business related bankruptcy provisions in the bill.
Senate Amendment 110: To clarify that the means test does not apply to debtors below median income.
Senate Amendment 66: To increase the accrual period for the employee wage priority in bankruptcy.
Senate Amendment 62: To provide for the potential disallowance of certain claims.
Senate Amendment 67: To modify the bill to protect families, and for other purposes.
Senate Amendment 68: To provide a maximum amount for a homestead exemption under State law.
Senate Amendment 70: To exempt debtors whose financial problems were caused by failure to receive alimony or child support, or both, from means testing.
Senate Amendment 69: To amend the definition of current monthly income.
Senate Amendment 105: To limit claims in bankruptcy by certain unsecured creditors.
Senate Amendment 83: To modify the definition of “disinterested person” in the bankruptcy code.
Senate Amendment 112: To protect disabled veterans from means testing in bankruptcy under certain circumstances.
Senate Amendment 129: To limit the protection for asset protection trusts.
And on the bill itself, S. 256:
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