December 22,
2005
Budget Update
Yesterday the U.S. Senate considered the budget reconciliation
conference agreement, which had been passed by the House earlier
in the week. The bill passed on a 51-50 vote with Vice President
Cheney breaking a tie. The U.S. Senate however did slightly
revise the budget reconciliation bill the House voted on. Therefore,
the bill will go back to the U.S. House for reconsideration
before the President can sign the legislation.
All Democrats opposed the bill and were joined by five Republicans:
Snowe, Collins, Chafee, DeWine, and Smith and one Independent:
Jeffords.
How did the bill change? Senator
Conrad (D-ND), the ranking member on the budget committee,
raised a point of order against several provisions of the conference
agreement that violated technicalities in the Senate budget
rules Relatively minor provisions were stricken from the bill
that did not include any of the major low-income cuts
or provisions in the bill. The TANF work provisions,
child support cuts, foster care cuts, SSI cuts, and Medicaid
cuts remain in the bill.
What happens now? Because
the bill that passed the Senate is not identical the bill that
passed the House, the bill must go back to the House for
approval. If the House does not approve the Senate-passed
version, the budget reconciliation bill is not agreed to.
The House narrowly passed the budget reconciliation bill in
the wee hours of Monday morning, before many members had any
opportunity to learn the content of the bill. In those
hours, there was much confusion about what was actually in
the final legislation. The Senate’s technical changes
gives House Representatives a second chance - they
do not have to vote to approve the Senate-passed bill. In
fact - the House can vote the bill down or the House can make
changes to the bill sent to them by the Senate and then send
that amended bill back to the Senate (or ask the Senate to
engage in another conference).
You can find out how your Member voted at http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll670.xml
When will it be over? Most Members
of Congress have left Washington for the holiday break and,
so, the vote will not take place until sometime in February.
We will be contacting you in early January with a new message
and action request for your Members of Congress.
Thank you for your advocacy.
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