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Democrats may bypass formal bill process on healthcare
Democratic leaders are likely to sidestep a conference committee in merging
the House and Senate versions, an attempt to block Republicans from delaying the
bill.
By James Oliphant
January 5, 2010
Reporting from Washington
As congressional Democrats work toward a final healthcare bill, they appear
increasingly likely to forgo the formal conference committee process for merging
House and Senate versions of the legislation, opting instead for closely held
negotiations between leaders from the two chambers.
Under that scenario,
aides said, the House would take up and amend the Senate bill before sending it
back for a vote.
In theory, the Senate could amend the new version and
send it back to the House, triggering another round in a process sometimes
called ping-ponging.
But Democratic leaders will try to draft a
compromise version that would be acceptable to both chambers, opening the way
for final congressional action this month or in early February.
House
leaders will return to Washington this week to begin talks in earnest and chart
the path forward. Aides stressed Monday that no final decision had been made.
The entire House Democratic caucus is to meet Thursday before the House returns
to business next week.
Typically, competing bills are reconciled by a
conference committee composed of House and Senate chairs of key committees. But
Democrats on Capitol Hill are free to fashion a more informal procedure because
they aren't relying on Republican votes to pass the final bill.
For
congressional Democrats and the White House, bypassing a conference committee
would block Republicans from delaying the bill through filibusters or other
procedural means.
In remarks to constituents in Santa Monica on Sunday,
Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), who as chairman of the House Energy and
Commerce Committee looms as a pivotal figure in any negotiations, said he
believed that Democrats would avoid a formal conference.
House
Republicans on Monday argued that informal negotiations went against Democrats'
pledges of government transparency.
"Something as critical as the
Democrats' healthcare bill . . . shouldn't be slapped together in a shady
backroom deal," said Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John
A. Boehner (R-Ohio).
"Skipping a real, open conference shuts out the
American people and breaks one of President Obama's signature campaign
promises," he said.
Just one Republican in the House and none in the
Senate voted for the healthcare overhaul.
But the real challenge for
Democrats won't lie in keeping the Republicans at bay; it will be holding its
own unruly caucuses together long enough to push through a final version of the
bill and send it to the president's desk.
Working from the Senate bill,
which was passed Christmas Eve, makes more than procedural sense. Republicans
could filibuster a bill in the Senate after it returns from the House, meaning
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) would need all Democrats, and the two
independents, to support the bill to get it through.
Several moderates
have already said they would withdraw their support if the final bill strayed
too far from the Senate version.
Regardless of what form the talks take,
points of contention include: whether to tax high-end health plans or levy a
surtax on wealthy Americans to help pay for the overhaul, how tightly to
restrict federal subsidy dollars from abortion coverage, and whether to include
a government-run health insurer, or "public option."
Preserving the
public option appears to be the most difficult objective for liberal Democrats.
It's unlikely that any final bill with such a provision could garner 60 votes in
the Senate.
joliphant@latimes.com
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times