Reconciliation Process

WHAT IS THE RECONCILIATION PROCESS?

  • The most important requirement to pass ANY BILL into LAW is that both houses of Congress must pass the exact same bill (policy implications must be identical).
  • The reconciliation process is a legislative method used by one party (currently the Democrats) to advance the legislation of amendments (in this case H.R. 4872) made to the original bill (in this case H.R. 3590) to avoid a potential filibuster (by the Republicans) to stop the passage of amendments to a bill.
  • On Sunday, March 21, 2010 the House of Representatives passed the Health Care Reform Bill (H.R. 3590) that the Senate ALREADY passed on December 24, 2009. As a result, the requirement of both Houses of Congress passing the exact same Health Care Reform Bill (H.R. 3590) has been met.

IMPORTANT RECONCILIATION PROCESS RULES

  • Since the Senate already passed the original Health Care Reform Bill (H.R. 3590) on December 24, 2009, reconciliation can ONLY be used to pass the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives (H.R. 4872) on March 21, 2010.
  • Therefore, only a SIMPLE MAJORITY is required in the Senate (51 of 100 votes) to pass the proposed amendments (H.R. 4872) to the original Health Care Reform Bill (H.R. 3590) passed by the Senate.
  • If any edits are made to the amendments (proposed by the House of Representatives in H.R. 4872) by the Senate, then those edits will go back to the House of Representatives to be approved.

Reconciliation Process in the Senate:

  • The reconciliation process is limited to 20 hours of debate

  • Amendments
    • Are allowed
    • Amendments CANNOT adjust the Health Care Reform Bill's policies
    • Amendments MUST pertain to budgetary issues (taxes, Medicaid reimbursements, Federal assistance for the lower income population to increase affordability of health care, etc.)
    • All amendments must be debated within the 20 hours allocated
  • The Authority
    • The Vice President of the United States (Biden) is the Senate President
    • The Vice President (Biden) decides which amendments pertain to budgetary issues versus those that would adjust the Health Care Reform Bill's policies
    • If the amendments proposed adjust any of the proposed Health Care Reform Bill's policies, then they are considered "out of order" and are not considered for a vote on the Senate floor
  • Previous Use
    • This process has been used 19 times and vetoed 3 times in the past
    • 16 times it was utilized by Republican controlled Senates, the remaining times by Democrat controlled Senates
    • Most recent uses:
      • 2003 Tax Cuts
      • 2001 Tax Cuts
      • 1997 Balanced Budget Act
      • 1996 Welfare Overhaul

CURRENT SITUATION: President Obama has signed the Health Care Reform Bill (H.R. 3590) into law since it has been passed in identical form in both Houses of Congress. The Senate has proposed edits to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives (H.R. 4872) on March 21, 2010; the edits proposed by the Senate are being sent back to the House of Representatives for approval. Once approved in the House of Representatives, the amendments (H.R. 4872) will be added to the Health Care Reform Bill.

For the complete version of the Health Care Reform Legislative Process, click here.