Democrats Go Solo on Health Care Reform
With President Obama’s seven-hour health care summit with congressional leaders on Feb. 25 failing to produce a bipartisan compromise, the stage is now set for Democrats to move forward on their own. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said he expects a final vote on the health overhaul bill before Congress adjourns for its spring recess on March 26, but other congressional observers believe that schedule is overly optimistic.
While the Democrats have not yet finalized a plan on how to proceed, one emerging option for passage of health care reform is for the House to pass the Senate bill that was approved on Christmas Eve without any amendments. The House and Senate would then produce and vote on a package of changes to that legislation under a budget process known as reconciliation, which only requires 51 Senate votes for final passage. Congressional staffers are already working behind the scenes to craft such an approach.
If Congress proceeds along the reconciliation path, NAHB will mobilize an intensive lobbying and grassroots push to oppose the unamended Senate bill and strip from it a provision by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) that targets small businesses in the construction industry. The Merkley language unfairly targets small construction firms by requiring them to provide health insurance or face stiff fines if they employ more than five workers. Small businesses in every other industry, on the other hand, would be exempt from providing mandatory health coverage if they employ 50 workers or less.
NAHB has already spent many months laying the groundwork for this endeavor. Led by Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), four Democratic senators are on record opposing the provision, along with 18 Senate Republicans and more than a dozen House members. Other House and Senate Democratic and Republican leaders have also indicated to NAHB that they oppose the Merkley provision. NAHB is readying an all-member BuilderLink Alert calling on our members to contact their representatives and senators and urge them to oppose any legislation that contains the Merkley language. NAHB is also aggressively targeting key Democrats in both chambers to urge them to oppose any bill that contains the Merkley provision.
The situation remains fluid as Democrats determine their final legislative strategy to push the health care overhaul across the goal line. A crowded legislative calendar and the need to further address the struggling U.S. economy won’t make that job any easier. Adding further uncertainty is the fact that the reconciliation approach is far from a slam dunk. This option would require a majority of House Democrats to vote for a bill that many do not like in the hope that their concerns would be addressed in the Senate reconciliation package.
While Senate reconciliation procedures allow for an expedited general debate process and a simple majority for passage, they also permit an unlimited amount of relevant amendments to be offered. Senate Republicans have stated publicly that they are prepared to offer as many amendments as it takes to kill the current health care reform package.
The possibility of Senate Republicans succeeding in stalling reconciliation has made it even more difficult to round up House Democratic supporters for the Senate measure. However, President Obama continues to meet with groups of wavering Democrats to urge them to support a final health overhaul, and House Democratic leaders continue to lobby their colleagues to support a vote on passage of the unaltered Senate bill, increasing the odds that it will be passed by the House.
NAHB is monitoring events closely and will continue to lead the fight with other like-minded business groups to ensure that the Merkley language is eliminated from any final health care legislation to emerge from Congress. For more information, contact Carlos Gutierrez at 800-368-5242 x8242.
|
