April 24th, 2009

Reports Kaiser Network News:

The House on Wednesday voted 227-196 against a Republican proposal that would have instructed its conferees to reject the use of the budget reconciliation process to pass health care overhaul legislation, CQ Today reports. The House also named its conferees, three Democrats and two Republicans, who will meet with Senate conferees to reconcile their budget resolutions into a final version. The Senate has yet to appoint its conferees, and Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said there is no definite timeline, adding, “There is plenty of work, certainly, to be done” (Clarke/Krawzak, CQ Today, 4/22).

The House included instructions in its budget resolution to allow the use of the reconciliation process to pass health reform legislation, but the Senate, which did not include the orders in its resolution, has been “reluctant to authorize it,” the New York Times reports (Pear, New York Times, 4/23). Democratic leaders and the Obama administration would support using the procedure if a bipartisan compromise cannot be reached on overhaul legislation (Clarke/Krawzak, CQ Today, 4/22). Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said, “It may be a struggle to get” the 61 votes required to bypass reconciliation.

According to the Times, reconciliation would allow Democrats to “overcome Republican objections to a big increase in federal spending and in the role of government,” but “it could fundamentally alter the political dynamic of the health care debate, detonating an explosive reaction among Republican senators who have been working with Democrats on the issue.”

Read more at Kaiser.