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A Legislative History of “ Obamacare ”

A Legislative History of “ Obamacare ”. REPORT. John Cannan Research and Instructional Services Librarian Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University. Talk Outline. Brief background o n passing legislation in U.S.

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A Legislative History of “ Obamacare ”

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  1. A Legislative History of“Obamacare” REPORT John Cannan Research and Instructional Services Librarian Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University

  2. Talk Outline • Brief background on passing legislation in U.S. • How new congressional procedures affect availability of legislative information • Procedures used to pass Obamacare, e.g. Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act & Health Care & Education Reconciliation Act • Note: Both parties use procedure in similar ways

  3. Passing Legislation in the U.S.

  4. Legislative Procedure: “Short Form” Referred to Committee Referred to Committee Reported to Floor Reported to Other Chamber • Hearing • Mark up • Report • Debate • Amendments • Vote Bill introduced Reported to Floor Referred to Conference Committee Reported to Floors • Hearing • Mark up • Report • Conference: • Chamber Differences Resolved • Conference Report • Debate • Vote • Debate • Amendments • Vote Presented to President

  5. Another Model of U.S. Legislative Procedure

  6. H.R. 3200 Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries & Pension Relief Act Senate House Committees • Education & Labor • Energy & Commerce • Ways & Means Committees • Budget Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act • Finance • Health, Education, Labor & Pensions H.R. 4872 S. 1679 S. 1796 Rules Committee H.R. 3962 H.R. 3590 + H. Res. 1203 + H. Res. 903 House Floor Senate Floor House bill Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act Amendment between houses

  7. New Congressional Procedures, Legislative Information & Obamacare Committee Markup House Rules Committee Amendment Between the Houses Reconciliation

  8. Committee Markup • Purpose: To select, debate, amend and report legislation • Good News: More sources of committee work • Committee websites • C-Span • Youtube • Bad News: Markups not as substantive • More work done behind the scenes • No official record of these discussions • Have to rely on other sources, e.g. news

  9. + REPORT H.R. 3200, as reported from Education & Labor George Miller (D-Cal.), House Education & Labor Committee REPORT + H.R. 3200, as reported from Ways & Means Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), House Ways & Means Committee H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act REPORT Nancy Pelosi, (D-Cal.) Speaker of the House + H.R. 3200, as reported from Energy & Commerce Blue Dog Revolt Henry Waxman (D-Cal.), House Energy & CommerceCommittee

  10. Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee (HELP) Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) Committee hearings S. 1679, Affordable Health Choices Act Chairman’s mark Mark up Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) Senate Finance Committee Group of Six S. 1796, America’s Healthy Future Act Baucus Bingaman (D-N.M.) Max Baucus (D- Mont.) • Draft • Chairman’s mark • Amended mark + Conrad (D-N.D.) Enzi (R-Wyo.) Mark up REPORT Committee hearings Grassley (R.- Iowa) Snowe (R. Me.)

  11. House Rules Committee • Purpose: Brings bills to Whole House and sets rules for floor debate • Rules: • Amount of time for debate • Whether amendments can be offered and which ones • Which bill to bring? • Bill reported from committee • Or completely different bill • Procedure: • House Resolution (H. Res.) • Report

  12. Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries & Pension Relief Act H.R. 3200, reported from H. Education & Labor Pelosi Louise Slaughter (D.-N.Y.), House Rules Committee H.R. 3962, Affordable Health Care for America Act H.R. 3200, reported from H. Ways & Means House passes RULES RESOLUTION H.R. 3200, reported from H. Energy & Commerce Three amendments: Manager’s amendment & perfecting amendment (considered adopted) Stupak Amendment (abortion) Republican proposals H. Res. 903 + REPORT

  13. Amendment Between the Houses • Purpose: Resolves differences between House and Senate versions of bill • Cut text from bill passed by other chamber • Paste in new text • Send back to other chamber • Repeat • Now favored means of achieving chamber agreement • Result: • No conference report • Can appear to combine unrelated bills

  14. Cloture (60 votes needed to open & close debate) S. 1679, Affordable Health Choices Act SENATE AMENDMENT Dodd Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Majority Leader S. Amend. 2786 to H.R. 3590, Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act Senate floor Baucus America’s Healthy Future Act, S. 1796 H.R. 3590, Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act

  15. Reconciliation • Purpose: Optional budget procedure to control direct (entitlement) spending • Expedited Senate procedure • Usually unlimited debate & 60 votes to pass • Debate limit—20 hours • Simple majority to pass • Intended for deficit reduction, not implementing policy or cutting taxes • Mostly used for implementing policy and cutting taxes • Must be germane to budget • Result: • Different procedure than traditional bill

  16. Student loan reform REPORT Resolution + REPORT S. Con. Res 13 & Report: Budget resolution with reconciliation instructions H.R. 3200, as reported from H. Education H.R. 4872, Reconciliation Act of 2010 H. Education & Labor + John Spratt, H. Budget REPORT REPORT + H.R. 3200, as reported from H. Ways & Means H. Ways & Means S. HELP H. Energy & Commerce U.S. Code Congressional & Administrative News S. Finance October, 2009 March 2010 April, 2009

  17. Technical amendments to text on loans H. Res. 1225 Pelosi Obama Senate Floor Reid H.R. 4872 Health Care & Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 H.R. 4872, Reconciliation Act of 2010 RULES RESOLUTION House Floor H. Rules H. Res. 1203 H.R. 3590, Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act, as engrossed by Senate + Two amendments to H.R. 4872 (considered adopted) : Amendment in nature of substitute Amendment to amendment REPORT Obama

  18. Problem and Solutions • Problems: • Confusion • Alienation • Lack of legitimacy • Solutions: • Change the process? • We are all parliamentarians now • Congressional Research Service reports: Not public but often available on web • E.g. Law Librarians’ Society of DC, Selected Congressional Research Service Reports on Congress and Its Procedures • House and Senate rules • Available on http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ • House and Senate precedents • Available on http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

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