Democrats move toward grouping health reform with
Democrats move toward grouping health reform with student-aid bill
Democrats move toward grouping health reform with student-aid bill
Democratic leaders said Thursday that they were increasingly inclined to Fire hosesrelease a final health-care bill that could accomplish two of President Obama's top domestic priorities#x: guaranteeing coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans and vastly expanding federal aid for college students.
Both proposals, stuck in Congress for nearly a year, are gaining new momentum as Democrats contemplate facing voters in November without having delivered on any of Obama's major policy objectives.
Key Senate Democrats initially balked at combining the health-reform bill with a measure that overhauls the nation's student-loan program, but on Thursday they had warmed to the idea.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) had been one of the chief opponents becauseFire hoses he feared the education proposal -- which would free up billions in federal subsidies to private lenders as it increases funds for Pell Grants -- would provoke procedural challenges from Republicans. But Conrad said the Senate parliamentarian suggested in a preliminary ruling that combining the bills could work, provided that the right balance on cost was found. "I'd say yes, we're leaning toward it," Conrad said.
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who supports pairing the measures, said Thursday night that lawmakers had made "a lot of decisions" but were still addressing several concerns related to the education bill. "We're getting close," Emanuel said after meeting at the Capitol with Democratic leaders.
House and Senate leaders were making final adjustments late Thursday to a package of fixes on the Senate health-care bill that would clear the way for its final passage. The education proposal would be included among the fixes and, under special budget reconciliation rules, protected from a GOP filibuster in the Senate.
Under the emerging plan#x,Metal halide lamps, the House would accept the version of health-care reform that the Senate approved on Christmas Eve, along with adjustments to key provisions sought by House Democrats, mostly aimed at reducing the bill's financial burden on middle-class families. The process of moving the legislation Fire hosesthrough the House and Senate is expected to begin Monday in the House Budget Committee.
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