Category: Health/Medical

This week, lawmakers will attempt to clear the decks of routine legislative business on the floors of each chamber so that they can continue to give their full attention to how to move major aspects of Democrats’ signature priorities: healthcare reform and climate change legislation.

The House will take up a bill to overhaul the federal student loan system, which has become a top priority for President Obama.  The bill would eliminate the Federal Family Education Loan Program and replace it with the Direct Lending Program administered by the US Department of Education.  It is estimated that this bill could save up to $87 billion, with some of those savings being used to increase Pell Grants and reduce the federal deficit. 

The House will also consider legislation that will provide for an Energy Department program for the research, development, demonstration and commercial application of vehicle technologies.

The Senate plans to finish work on the FY10 Transportation-HUD spending bill early this week, with the first votes on amendments to that measure tonight and stretching into Tuesday.  It is clear that they won’t meet the September 30^th deadline so a short-term continuing resolution is all but assured.

The Senate Finance Committee is expected to release its long-awaited health care overhaul legislation in advance of a markup. The committee needs to make final decisions on prohibiting federal funds for abortions, changes to the medical malpractice system, and expanding Medicaid.  Democratic leaders have a Tuesday deadline to come up with a bipartisan proposal before Democrats decide to go it alone on a measure, an option that could involve budget reconciliation procedures.

Budget reconciliation is a senate procedure that would allow the majority party to limit debate and approve a measure with only 51 votes as opposed to the usual 60.  Reconciliation, enacted in 1974 to reduce the budget deficit through better legislative discipline, is designed to align, or reconcile, existing spending laws with the annual budget resolution adopted by the House and Senate.  Unlike most other measures, reconciliation bills are immune to a filibuster (which requires 60 votes to overcome). In years past, both parties have used the procedure to advance policy changes that have had little or nothing to do with deficit reduction.

The use of reconciliation does come with some risks to the majority party.  The rule allows any senator to raise a point of order to strike out parts of a reconciliation measure that are found not to be budget issues.  To a large degree, it is the Senate parliamentarian — an appointee of the majority leader — who makes the call on what does and does not qualify for a spot in a reconciliation bill.  In the case of health reform, the Senate Democrats run the risk of having some portions of their health bill removed from consideration.

It will also be a busy work for the Office of Federal Relations.  Several members of the UW community are in DC this week for a variety of national meetings.  President Emmert will attend the Coalition of Universities for Global Health and participate in a panel discussion with his colleagues from other universities.  He will also visit with agency officials and Members of Congress.  Other faculty members will also be on the Hill this week advocating for global health initiatives and geological/seismic policy priorities.  We are also looking forward to seeing other members of the UW community in DC in the next few weeks.

Christy Gullion, Director

Congress returns to work this week after a fractious August recess during which lawmakers were confronted about the public health insurance option and other contentious elements in Democratic health reform bills.  Policy experts already are identifying less controversial proposals that could attract support from moderate Democrats and even some Republicans.

Lawmakers hope to come up with a compromise on health reform by the middle of October.  If no compromise is found, it’s likely they will try to enact a series of smaller health measures. 

President Obama will address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday to discuss health care overhaul legislation. Health care negotiations in both chambers are expected to dominate legislative business for much of the fall. 

Meanwhile, it seems all but certain that Congress will not be able to complete all twelve FY10 appropriations bills before the next fiscal year begins Oct. 1^st.  Lawmakers will likely has to pass a continuing resolution (CR) later this month to fund federal agencies when FY10 begins. 

House and Senate leaders still hope to avoid an omnibus package.  Completing all of the bills individually will depend largely on how quickly the Senate acts on its eight remaining measures. 

The House has passed all twelve of their FY10 bills, but none of the measures has gone to conference or been enacted into law.  Four bills that both chambers have approved – Agriculture, Energy-Water, Homeland Security, and Legislative Branch – will likely be sent to the President for signature before October 1^st. 

The Senate is expected to take up three of their FY10 spending bills this week, including Transportation-HUD, Interior-Environment, and Commerce-Justice-Science. The Defense spending bill will follow late this week or next, after subcommittee markup on Wednesday. 

Even with the busy legislative schedule this fall, we are looking forward to seeing several members of the UW community in DC and on Capitol Hill.  If you are planning on being in DC this fall, please get in touch with our office so that we can coordinate all the visits – and to ensure that you are getting appointments with the folks you need to see.  As always, we are here to help you advocate for your projects and programs! 

Christy Gullion, Director

With the House gone for its August recess, the Senate will turn its attention this week to passing one more spending bill, replenishing the popular Cash for Clunkers program, and confirming President Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, all with the aim to leave town Friday until after Labor Day.

APPROPRIATIONS

As Congress prepares to leave for August recess, the House, which adjourned last week, has completed work on all 12 appropriations bills, and the Senate is expected to be a third of the way done when it departs Friday.  The Senate will consider its Agriculture spending measure this week.  With Senate passage of the Agriculture bill this week, the Senate will have passed four of its bills.

The Senate plans to continue floor consideration of spending bills in September, and leaders would like to get a handful of spending bills enacted before the Oct. 1 start of federal fiscal year 2010.  A continuing resolution will be needed to fund most government agencies when the new fiscal year arrives.  Democrats remain intent on enacting all 12 spending bills individually, and avoiding a massive multi-bill omnibus spending measure, as has so often been the result over the past 14 years. 

The House and Senate will begin informal and then formal conference committee negotiations to work out the differences between their spending measures.  The Office of Federal Relations will continue to advocate for funding priorities that affect the University of Washington, including congressionally-directed funding and specific programmatic (agency) funding.

HEALTH

The six Senate Finance Committee members negotiating a bipartisan healthcare overhaul bill will meet throughout the week, but will not hold a markup on any overhaul measure.  While they keep reporting that the group is making progress, no one has seen a proposal on paper.  One provision that appears close to a final decision is an insurance co-op in lieu of a public option.  The public option issue will likely be hotly debated when Congress returns to DC in September. 

The House meanwhile may be on recess, but lawmakers working on a health care overhaul still have a lot of work to do over the break to prepare to pass legislation when they return.  Democratic leaders and committee chairs will have to find a way to resolve differences in the versions of the bill approved by two committees – Education and Labor and Ways and Means – and a compromise measure approved just before the House recessed last week by the Energy and Commerce Committee that includes proposals crafted with moderate Democrats on the panel who had opposed the original bill over cost concerns.

The House is looking now to pass the bill in mid-September, a few days after Congress reconvenes. 

AUGUST RECESS

House Members have already started their August recess, with many of them back in their home states/districts.  The Senate will follow after they complete their work this week.  The WA State Delegation will spend the recess period holding town hall meetings, attending forums, and meeting with community leaders and constituent groups – with a focus on health care reform, Recovery Act implementation, and climate issues.  Many of the DC staff from these offices will be in the state, and I am arranging for several of these staff to be on campus to learn more about our priorities as they relate to the federal government. 

I will be on campus from August 19 through September 4, and am currently scheduling meetings with faculty and staff to discuss on-going University projects and issues.  The Office of Federal Relations is also gearing up on the development of our FY2011 Federal Agenda.  This agenda will likely include a continued focus on obtaining Recovery Act funding, as well as identifying new research opportunities through health care reform and climate legislation.  Additionally, we are beginning to discuss priorities for FY2011 congressionally-directed funding requests.

Please let me know if you would like to meet with me during the time I’m on campus – either to discuss the current FY2010 process, the upcoming FY2011 Federal Agenda development, or any other issue that has some federal nexus and needs some attention by the Office of Federal Relations. 

Christy Gullion, Director