Campaign contributions for seven of eight newly installed GOP House committee chairmen have risen 59 percent in this year over the first six months of 2011. The 11 continuing committee chairmen only show a three percent average increase in first-half contributions this year over the same time frame two years ago. In their powerful positions they determine what legislation is heard by the committee and what falls to the wayside, and thus are a magnet for contributions from lobbyists and businesses who have interests governed by that chairman’s focus. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.), the new Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has raised $1.35 million in the first six months of 2013, a 67 percent increase over the $826,050 he received in the same time period of 2011. His donors include the manufactured and modular housing industries, mortgage servicers, community banks, credit unions, payday lenders and pawnshops. As huffingtonpost informs MHProNews, most of these contributors to Hensarling are covered by the regulations and policies of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB). The committee chair who saw the greatest increase in contributions is Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Penn.), who leads the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He oversees airlines, oil and gas companies, trucking companies, engineers, architects, contractors and trade groups. His contributions rose 412 percent over the first six months of 2011, from $235,000 to $1.2 million.
