The SBA and ending the recession one VOTE at a time

This is the latest from NAGGL-
During this afternoon's Senate consideration of HR 5297, Senator Reid said on the floor that he hopes the Senate will complete work on this bill and all amendments by the end of tomorrow. He also indicated that there was now an agreement with Republican members to offer three amendments.

Tomorrow's Senate action on HR 5297 will require several procedural moves needed to adjust the amendment tree from last week, to allow Republicans to offer up to 3 amendments, and to allow for the introduction of a new substitute amendment that would add Sens. Landrieu/LeMieux small business lending fund amendment and Sen. Lincoln's $1.5 billion in agricultural disaster relief to the bill. [A substitute amendment is an amendment that would strike out the entire text of a bill or other measure and insert a different full text.]

After meeting with congressional leaders from both parties today, President Obama was quoted as saying, "I hope that in the coming days, we'll once again find common ground and get this legislation passed. We shouldn't let America's small businesses be held hostage to partisan politics -- and certainly not at this critical time."
If the Senate meets the Majority Leader's goal of completing work and voting on HR 5297 by the close of business tomorrow, the bill will then return to the House, where it would either:

Be voted on as amended by the Senate, or
Go to conference with House and Senate representatives working to iron-out their differing perspectives on the bill.
It remains too early to know how that scenario will play out. Should the path lead to a lengthy conference between the House and Senate, the legislation could languish. The House adjourns this Friday, July 30 until September 13.