GOP lawmaker has five-year plan for Ex-Im

Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.) is showing Republican House members a top-line draft proposal of legislation that reauthorizes the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) for five years, according to a copy obtained by The Hill.

Fincher’s proposal could serve as the foundation for a longer-term Ex-Im reauthorization package following a short-term reauthorization that’s attached to a government funding measure known as the continuing resolution (CR).

{mosads}The bank shuts down Sept. 30, if Congress doesn’t extend its reauthorization. Fincher’s move signals that Republicans could get behind a five-year reauthorization bill.

Fincher, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, voted against Ex-Im reauthorization in 2012 and now is at the forefront among House Republicans urging Ex-Im reauthorization. 

Fincher’s spokeswoman Elizabeth Lauten said that Fincher opposed reauthorization in 2012 because it lacked reforms.

“However, this time, he didn’t feel in good conscience that he could vote against the bank this time without trying to make it better,” Lauten said. “He’s for it because, in this economy, it’s all about jobs.”

Fincher’s legislation would reverse Ex-Im guidelines that prevent financing for overseas power plants that decline to adopt greener technology, according to the proposal. Such a policy is championed by the coal industry and opposed by green groups.

Additional reforms would limit the bank’s president to serving two, four-year terms. It would also increase financial disclosures among the bank’s employees and contractors, similar to lobbying disclosures, according to the proposal.

Lauten said that Fincher is distributing the draft to Republican members with the hopes of rallying support for a bill, but there’s no set time line on when a bill would be introduced.

Tea Partiers oppose the bank’s reauthorization, saying it’s corporate welfare. Most centrist Republicans and Democrats argue that Ex-Im financing helps sustain U.S. jobs.

Lauten said Ex-Im supports more than 1,000 jobs in Fincher’s district.

Lauten said details regarding provisions to the airline industry are still being worked on. 

Delta Airlines has called for reforms to Ex-Im financing, arguing that the bank gives an unfair advantage to its foreign competitors because of its financing to Boeing.