RP Report on Federal Legislation for November 9, 2009 ...

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Health Care Legislation (Go to www.nwyc.com for updated information)

House (H.R.3962): Lawmakers in the House are dealing with concerns over abortion services, immigration and the price tag of the 1,990 page health care overhaul measure. At press time the measure was headed for a vote during a rare Saturday session.

Even as the vote drew near, some anti-abortion lawmakers were asking for stronger guarantees against the use of federal funds to pay for abortions. The bill would neither require insurance plans to cover abortion nor forbid it.

The bill would require the government-run “public option” plan to cover abortions in the event of rape, incest or when the pregnancy could be fatal to the mother. The administration would be empowered to decide whether the public option would also cover elective abortion. It would have to use funds collected as premiums to pay for the procedure. Liberals were continuing to seek a more robust public insurance option.
Lawmakers decided the bill’s language on the immigration issue will remain intact despite the view of some that tighter restrictions are needed to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining health insurance.

Senate (S.1796) (S.1679): The Senate is continuing to work on its health care overhaul measure with no vote expected in the near future. In a letter to Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), the heads of three major integrated health systems said a proposal to tax health insurance companies and raise $60.4 billion over a decade would be unfair to their industry.

Science Funding: In a 60-39 vote, the Senate agreed to move forward on its version of a bill that would provide $65.1 billion in fiscal 2010 for the departments of Commerce and Justice, and other agencies such as NASA and the National Science Foundation.(H.R.2847)

Sidestepping the GOP in Cap and Trade: Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) used an unusual
procedural maneuver to push global warming legislation through her committee last Thursday. The bill was approved without a single Republican present. Committee rules require at least two members of the minority to be present for votes on amendments and to approve legislation.

After Republicans made it clear that they would stay away from the markup until they were satisfied with the cost of the bill, Sen. Boxer used a broad interpretation of the rules that allows the committee to report out legislation with a simple majority vote on a bill — but no votes on amendments. (S.1733)

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Unemployment Compensation: The House passed legislation that will extend unemployment benefits for jobless Americans across the nation, continue a popular tax credit for homebuyers and offer tax relief to money-losing businesses. (H.R.3548)

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Employment Discrimination: Lawmakers will be considering legislation to outlaw employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in 2010. (S.1584)

Federal Reserve Transparency: A bipartisan pair of House negotiators say they agree in principle on legislation to beef up government auditing of the Federal Reserve, but a deal on exact language has not been made. (H.R.1207)

Tax Evasion: Some Democratic lawmakers are trying to move legislation that would impose new IRS reporting requirements on foreign financial institutions. The bill would give the IRS more data to detect fraud and tax evasion. It would raise $8.5 billion over 10 years. (H.R.3933) (S.1934)

Financial Regulatory Overhaul: The House Financial Services Committee will take two more weeks to finish work on a financial regulatory overhaul package. The measure is designed to mitigate the broad economic risks posed by the largest financial institutions, one of the last pieces of a regulatory overhaul package. (H.R.2609)

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