Health care vote may hinge on bill's language

By: Ray Reed | Lynchburg News and Advance
Published: March 18, 2010

Questions about methods the U.S. House might use to pass health care legislation swirled without any real answers Wednesday.

Timothy M. Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said he expected there would be an “up or down vote” on whether the legislation should pass.

The Virginia Republican Party pushed for an answer on whether Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th District, would support an alternate kind of vote they called “deem-and-pass.” Opponents also called it the “Slaughter rule” for Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., who suggested the method.

Perriello still hadn’t decided whether he would vote for the health care bill because its “reconciliation language” still was being written Wednesday, said Jessica Barba, his spokeswoman.

As for the “deem-and-pass” issue, Barba said it was too early to say what Perriello would do.

“We have no idea what this rule is going to look like,” Barba said, referring to the parliamentary language that would be needed to carry out Slaughter’s suggestion.

The health care bill itself was still being rewritten to reconcile differences with a bill the House passed in November, Barba said. Several House of Representatives committees were drafting parts of the reconciliation.

Perriello had several problems with the Senate version of the bill, Barba said. However, Perriello did say Tuesday that he thought the Senate bill would not use taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions, which was one of the tests it would have to pass to get his vote.

“The reconciliation is supposed to fix everything that’s wrong and bad with the Senate bill,” Barba said, including the so-called “Louisiana Purchase” and “Cornhusker kickback.” Those were special funding provisions that Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Ben Nelson, D-Neb., negotiated for their states.

“We’ve got to make sure those things get out,” Barba said. “That’s what we’re waiting for.”

Once conferees agree on reconciliation language, Democratic leaders have indicated they will post it online for 72 hours before the House votes on it, Barba said.

“We hope they stick to that promise,” she said.