Politics

House of Reps. Returns, Health Care Negotiations Continue

By Sunlight Foundation & Participatory Politics Foundation

The second session of the 111th session of Congress will officially begin this week as the House of Representatives returns to Washington for legislative work. The Senate remains in recess until after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but some, including Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid [D, NV] will be in town to continue negotiating a final health care bill with House Democrats and the Obama Administration.

The House has a relatively light schedule for the week, and the Democrats will be leaving the Capitol on Wednesday for their annual three-day Democratic Issues Conference retreat. But despite the short work week, House and Senate staffers will really start getting busy this week on reconciling the different Senate and House health care bills and Democratic Sens. and Reps. will be holding meetings with the White House about the bill. President Obama wants the bill completed before the State of the Union address in early February, but before the Senate and House can even vote on a final version, the CBO is going to need at least 10 days to give it a full budget scoring. Add to that the fact that the Democrats will probably want the final bill to be posted online for 72 hours before they begin voting, and negotiators a lot of work to get done this week in order to stay on schedule. E.J. Dionne has a good rundown on where things stand with the negotiations right now.

Here’s the House’s floor schedule for the week:

MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2010

On Monday, the House will not be in session.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2010

On Tuesday, The House will meet at 12:00 p.m. for pro forma business and recess immediately. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m.

Quorum Call at 6:30 p.m. ? Establishing a quorum in the House of Representatives for the Second Session of the 111th Congress.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2010 AND THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK

On Wednesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for legislative business. On Thursday and Friday, no votes are expected in the House to accommodate the Democratic Issues Conference.

Disposing of the President?s Veto of H.J.Res. 64 - Making Further Continuing Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2010 (Rep. Obey ? Appropriations)

Suspensions (11 Bills)

H.Res. 981 - Supporting continued political and economic development in Ukraine (Rep. Berman – Foreign Affairs)

H.Res. 969 – Congratulating Flint native, University of Alabama Sophmore and running back Mark Ingram on winning the 2009 Heisman Trophy and honoring both his athletic and academic achievements (Rep. Kildee – Education and Labor)

H.Res. 862 – Congratulating the staff, students, and faculty at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy for winning the 2009 Star Innovator in the Intel Schools of Distinction competition (Rep. Foster – Education and Labor)

H.Res. __ – Congratulating North Central College on winning the 2009 NCAA Division III men?s cross country championship (Rep. Biggert – Education and Labor)

H.Res. __ - Honoring the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and encouraging the continued commitment to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a national day of service (Rep. Platts – Education and Labor)

H.Res. 860 – Supporting the initiatives of Chicago Wilderness and the Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights (Rep. Quigley – Education and Labor)

H.R. 3892 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 101 West Highway 64 Bypass in Roper, North Carolina, as the “E.V. Wilkins Post Office” (Rep. Butterfield – Oversight and Government Reform)

H.R. 4139 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 7464 Highway 503 in Hickory, Mississippi, as the “Sergeant Matthew L. Ingram Post Office” (Rep. Harper – Oversight and Government Reform)

S. 692 – To provide that claims of the United States to certain documents relating to Franklin Delano Roosevelt shall be treated as waived and relinquished in certain circumstances. (Sen. Schumer – Oversight and Government Reform)

H.R. 2646 – Government Accountability Office Improvement Act of 2009 (Rep. Towns – Oversight and Government Reform)

H.R. 3237 – To enact certain laws relating to national and commercial space programs as title 51, United States Code, "National and Commercial Space Programs (Rep. Conyers – Judiciary)

* Conference Reports may be brought up at any time.

* Motions to go to Conference should they become available.

* Possible Motions to Instruct Conferees.

Congress Matters has the full committee schedule for the week.

Full post as published by Open Congress on January 11, 2010 (boomark / email).