Senate reconciliation update: debate time shortened, Democrats to vote against all amendments

by: Chris Bowers

Wed Mar 24, 2010 at 11:36

• Democrats shorten debate time, Friday finish now possible  Senate Democrats have shortened the amount of time for debate, originally scheduled for 20 hours, to about 11.5 hours.  This could potentially allow the process to be completed on Friday, instead of on Saturday.  I have already heard from one Senate aide that Friday is in fact possible now.
  

  Senate Democrats did this by splitting debate time in half between the two parties, and then yielding almost all of their half of the debate time. David Waldman:

  Senate Dems have yielded back all their time on the reconciliation bill, which will cut debate time in half. Republicans still have about 8 1/2 hours remaining, so now they'll talk themselves blue for a while, and we'll start voting about 7 hours sooner than we otherwise would. I would have expected Dems to simply reserve their time and make Republicans speak all at once, and then yield back. But either way, this says to the GOP, there's nothing you can do with speeches and we have the votes, so let's let you vent and get it over with already. OK by me!

  With the Senate convening today at 9 a.m. eastern, this will bring debate time to a close around 5:30 p.m., eastern.  Votes on amendments will begin at that point.

• Only Republicans have submitted amendments  In the extended entry, I have posted a complete list of the 33 amendments Republicans have filed, along with the various motions to commit they have filed.
  

• Only Republicans have submitted amendments--no Democrats are going to offer any.  In an attempt to prevent the bill from being changed, and thus requiring another vote in the House, Democrats are pledging to vote against any and all amendments.  This means that, even if Republicans offer a public option amendment, Democrats would vote against that, too:

  "Democrats in the Senate are very unified that this is not going back to the House," Sen. Wyden (D-Ore.) told the Huffington Post on Tuesday, minutes before the Coburn amendment was introduced.
  

  Just how unified? If Republicans, in a bit of legislative trickery, offer an amendment to the Senate reconciliation bill that allows for the establishment of a public option for insurance coverage, Democrats -- despite longing for the proposal for more than a year -- won't even take the bait.
  

  "We would know it is a game," Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) told the Huffington Post. "We would vote against it. It is that simple."

  So, just in case you were unsure, there isn't going to be a public option in the new health insurance exchanges, at least as part of this legislative effort.  Democrats are not going to offer one and, even if someone broke ranks to do so, it would receive less than a handful of Democratic votes.
  

• Final vote to occur after all amendments and motions to commit are cleared  Senators get to minutes to explain their amendments, and then a vote is taken.  If Republicans keep forcing roll call votes, that process will take an entire day.  However, final passage on Friday still seems quite likely.
  

• Republicans now focusing on organizing around, not defeating, the bill. Since Senate Democrats have pledged to vote against any and all amendments, the Republican strategy now focuses on getting Democrats to vote against things like denying Viagra to convicting sex offenders.  The goal is to then use these votes for soundbites in attacks ads in November.  Brian Beutler:

  As the Senate gets closer to voting on a health care reconciliation bill, the Republican strategy to derail the Democrats' plans is getting creative--and dirty. Their strategy is clear: with Democrats determined to pass a clean bill, Republicans will force them to vote down politically juiced-up amendments, and likely turn them into political ads meant to characterize Dems as sympathetic to sex offenders and fraudsters.

  At this point, Republicans are just using the health reform bill as an organizing moment.  They are list-building and preparing attack ads.  However, Democrats have actually raised more money than Republicans since Sunday.

• Unemployment Extension also in the mix  The other main business that the Senate must handle this week is as unemployment extension.

  At the beginning of the month, the Senate passed a 30-day extension. With a two-week Senate recess coming up once reconciliation is over, they need to pass a bill that extends benefits for another year.  The bill ding just that is still working its way through the sausage factory:

  A bill extending enhanced unemployment benefits for the rest of the year is backed up behind health care reconciliation and a two-week break starting after this week. "Although the Senate passed the yearlong extension, they paid for the tax extenders part of that bill with offsets the House set aside for health care," said Judy Conti, a lobbyist for the National Employment Law Project. "Sen. Reid's office has been very clear that the only way they can move it is through unanimous consent."
  

  If anyone objects to unanimous consent for the stopgap measure, there's no time to make it happen before the break -- and on April 5, the previous extension will expire, meaning that people on unemployment will receive letters or robocalls from their state workforce agencies informing them that they will be ineligible for additional "tiers" of benefits they've been counting on.

  If the Senate fails to get unanimous consent, this bill will not pass before the scheduled recess.  A Senate aide told me they still hope to pass the bill this week, but that requires Jim Bunning not to object again.  The plan of action if Jim Bunning denies unanimous consent, and restarts his one-man filibuster, is unclear.

• Crapo motion to recommit -- Report the same back to the Senate within 3 days with changes that provide that the combined effect of this Act, and the PPACA, shall not result in an increase in Federal tax liability for any taxpayer with adjusted gross income of less than $200,000 / $250,000

• Enzi motion to recommit -- Report the same back to the Senate within 1 day with changes that strike the employer mandate that will lower wages and increase unemployment and add an offset

• Alexander motion to recommit - Report the bill to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate with instructions to report the same back to the Senate within 1 day with changes to reduce the interest paid by student borrowers by 1.5 percentage points and to add an offset.

36 amendments filed as of 11:20AM
#3553 -- To repeal the government takeover of health care. (Vitter)

#3554 -- Prohibiting use of funds to fund the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). (Vitter)

#3556 -- To reduce the cost of providing federally funded prescription drugs by eliminating fraudulent payments and prohibiting coverage of Viagra for child molesters and rapists for drugs intended to induce abortion. (Coburn)

#3557 -- To require that each new bureaucrat added to any department or agency of the Federal Government for the purpose of implementing the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act be offset by a reduction of 1 existing bureaucrat at such department or agency. (Coburn)

#3558 -- To revoke the powers given the Secretary of Health and Human Services under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. (Coburn)

#3559 -- To help the President keep his promise that Americans who like the health care coverage they have now can keep it. (Coburn)

#3560 -- To implement policies from the President's proposal to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid and save taxpayer dollars.

#3561 -- To ensure nondiscrimination on abortion and respect for rights of conscience. (Coburn)

#3562 -- To exempt class ! medical devices from taxation under the excise tax on medical device manufacturers. (Coburn)

#3563 -- To repeal the new $375 million program directing the very same Federal Government that has amassed a $12 trillion debt to lecture Americans about financial responsibility. (Coburn)

#3564 -- To make sure the President, Cabinet Members, all White House senior staff and Congressional Committee and Leadership staff are purchasing health insurance through the health insurance exchanges established by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. (Grassley)

#3565 -- To exclude devices for persons with disabilities from the medical device tax. (Inhofe)

#3566 -- To require all Members of Congress to read a bill prior to casting on a vote on the bill. (Coburn)

#3567 -- To prevent Medicare from being used for new entitlements and to use Medicare savings to save Medicare. (Gregg)

#3568 -- To protect the democratic process and the right of the people of the District of Columbia to define marriage. (Bennett)

#3569 -- To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to ensure Medicare beneficiary access to physicians, eliminate sweetheart deals for frontier States, and ensure equitable reimbursement under the Medicare program for all rural states. (Grassley)

#3570 -- To eliminate the sweetheart deals for Tennessee, Hawaii, Louisiana, Montana, Connecticut, and frontier States. (McCain)

#3571 -- To allow individuals 30 and over to enroll in the catastrophic plan if they are not eligible for premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions through the Exchange. (Collins)

#3572 -- To provide for an assessment of Medicare cost-intensive diseases and conditions. (Collins)

#3573 -- To ensure more timely access to home health services for Medicare beneficiaries under the Medicare program by allowing nurse practitioners, physician assistants, clinical nurse specialists and certified nurse midwives to order home health services. (Collins)

#3574 -- To preserve student choice in higher education loans. (LeMieux)

#3575 -- To preserve student choice in higher education loans. (LeMieux)

#3576 -- To address judicial review. (McCain)

#3577 -- To protect Medicare beneficiary access to hospital care in rural areas from recommendations by the Independent Payment Advisory Board. (Roberts)

#3578 -- To protect Medicare beneficiary access to health care from recommendations by the Independent Payment Advisory Board. (Roberts)

#3579 -- To strike the medical device tax. (Roberts)

#3580 -- To repeal the limitation on health flexible spending arrangements under cafeteria plans. (Roberts)

#3581 -- To repeal the limitation on deductions for over-the-counter medicine. (Roberts)

#3582 -- To ensure that Americans can keep the coverage they have by keeping premiums affordable. (Barrasso)

#3583 -- Ensuring that the self-employed are eligible for the transitional small business tax credit. (Snowe)

#3584 -- Preempt States from subsequently adopting their own employer mandate legislation that would target small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. (Snowe)

#3585 -- Open plans providing catastrophic coverage to all and allow premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions to be allowed for that coverage. (Snowe)

#3586 -- To enroll Members of Congress in the Medicaid program. (LeMieux)

#3587 -- To strike provisions relating to payments for imaging services. (Brownback)

#3588 -- To exclude pediatric devices and devices for persons with disabilities from the medical device tax. (Inhofe)

#3589 -- To provide expansion States with a transitional reduced State share for coverage of parents under Medicaid. (Snowe)