Senate Passes Ex-Im Bank Reauthorization Bill

The Senate approved a bill May 15 to reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank. The bipartisan legislation would increase the bank's lending limit to $140 billion by 2014. The text of the legislation is (here). The Senate approval sends the bill to President Obama for his signature, who is expected to sign it into law. The legislation would reauthorize the bank's charter, which expires on May 31, 2012, and increase the lending cap of the bank. The Ex-Im bank was expected to hit that lending limit by the end of May. The bill also begins the process of reducing export subsidies for aircraft, addressing a major complaint from airlines that disagreed with the practice.