Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), a lieutenant to Speaker Pelosi and current chairman of the DCCC has sent a memo yesterday regarding health care reform legislation. It is going to the staffers of House Democrats, asking them to clear their schedules for next weekend and to expect a vote either Friday or Saturday. It also went out to the the district directors of freshmen and sophomore House members who had fielded questions regarding timing, procedure, and scheduling. This memo also gives guidance on how to campaign on the health care bill by pointing out the immediate benefits.
Read the memo below the fold.
The internal memo, retrieved by Politico:
Hi all –
Attached and below are some good resources to get through the health care push next week.
Here is my best guess on timeline but as always this is Congress so it could all change very quickly:
TODAY or MONDAY: CBO will publish final scores on legislative language
THEN: House Budget Committee must approve using the reconciliation process to pass this
THEN: The bill will go to the Rules Committee, rule will be constructed for consideration on the floor, and language will be posted online (on the Rules website) and the 72-hour clock will start. When this happens, we will start to have a better idea on what the process will be.
THEN: A Manager’s Amendment will be constructed that will make some final changes
THEN: The Manager’s Amendment will be posted online and the 72-hour clock will start (this may overlap with the 72-hour clock on the reconciliation language). When Manager’s Amendment is done final process decisions will be locked in.
THIS MEANS: We will likely vote Friday or Saturday. (As you probably saw, POTUS pushed back the departure for his Asian trip from Thursday the 18th to Sunday the 21st; this was not a coincidence.) The Speaker has publically committed to trying to get a vote on both the reconciliation bill and the Senate bill on the same day. They are still trying to work out the final process on this and much of what we do depends on what the Senate Parliamentarian decides. You may be receiving calls about the "Slaughter Rule" and other rumors about what the process will be. Again, please understand: no decision has yet been made on the process for consideration on the House floor.
Key points:
- I would have your Member’s schedule pretty clear for next weekend. They will either be here or exhausted (or both).
- I continue to encourage all of you not to get into debates about process and to try and persuade your Member not to get into process arguments either. At this point, we have to just rip the band-aid off and have a vote -- up or down; yes or no? Things like reconciliation and what the rules committee does is INSIDE BASEBALL. People who try and start arguments about process on this are almost always against the actual policy substance too, often times for purely political reasons.
- Finally, I encourage you to study the final attached slide (#14) and give some thought to what your plan is post-vote, especially during Easter Work Period. If your Member is a yes, or might be a yes, I would lay the groundwork for some events to highlight the reforms that will quickly become law – no more donut hole, dependent children covered until 26, insurance access for those with pre-existing conditions, etc.
What do you say to this? It personally makes me feel pretty confident that they will get this done real soon and likely next Saturday.
UPDATE x1: Here's the slide #14 that was mentioned in the memo. I found it on the Blue Jersey blog:
UPDATE x2: The whole power point can be downloaded at this link here.