I knew I was running the risk of having my last post become obsolete immediately. Had I checked the news before I hit publish, I’d have seen that reports were out that the U.S. Senate had already passed their version of the bill, making it obsolete even before it was public.
OK, remember your civics classes? Or, if you are not a U.S. citizen, remember all those times that the U.S. political system seemed utterly confusing?
This is one of those times. (But, bear with me…or skip to the bottom: we need your help!)
First the House of Representatives passed their stimulus bill: H.R. 1. After they finished, they sent the bill to the Senate. The Senate, being a bunch of opinionated people, get to muck around with H.R. 1 and rewrite it. What just happened today is that the Senate passed their version of the Stimulus package. This is S.A. 98. In the process of rewriting, they added, oh, about 400 amendments to the bill. I’d love to tell you what they are, but they’ve come in so fast and furious that the government’s website hasn’t been able to catch up yet.
Many of the amendments say:
AMENDMENT PURPOSE: Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Here’s one that seemed good to me,
To provide an additional $6,500,000,000 to the National Institutes of Health for biomedical research.
Yep, $6.5B, with a B. That version got shot down…but this version (which appears the same in the short summary) got approved. Like I said, the U.S. Political system can be a little strange.
OK, it’s late. I don’t want to read through another 300 amendments. Especially when the amendment that has the cut to IDEA is buried in a quick summary like “to eliminate unnecessary spending”.
The word on the street (and probably somewhere on the Thomas.loc.gov website) is that the IDEA funding increase was cut down.
Does that mean the struggle is over? Hardly. It won’t be easy to get the funding level increased again, but keep in mind, the Senate and House versions of the bill are not the same. Before they send it to President Obama, they have to reconcile the two bills.
Or, as one news story puts it:
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said negotiators from the House and Senate would begin crafting a compromise bill on Monday, with the goal of sending legislation to President Barack Obama by the end of next week.
So, there is a chance for the the House to assert its version of IDEA funding.
In other words, now would be a good time to call, email or fax your member of congress or senators.
I knew I was running the risk of having my last post become obsolete immediately. Had I checked the news before I hit publish, I’d have seen that reports were out that the U.S. Senate had already passed their version of the bill, making it obsolete even before it was public.
OK, remember your civics classes? Or, if you are not a U.S. citizen, remember all those times that the U.S. political system seemed utterly confusing?
This is one of those times. (But, bear with me…or skip to the bottom: we need your help!)
First the House of Representatives passed their stimulus bill: H.R. 1. After they finished, they sent the bill to the Senate. The Senate, being a bunch of opinionated people, get to muck around with H.R. 1 and rewrite it. What just happened today is that the Senate passed their version of the Stimulus package. This is S.A. 98. In the process of rewriting, they added, oh, about 400 amendments to the bill. I’d love to tell you what they are, but they’ve come in so fast and furious that the government’s website hasn’t been able to catch up yet.
Many of the amendments say:
Here’s one that seemed good to me,
Yep, $6.5B, with a B. That version got shot down…but this version (which appears the same in the short summary) got approved. Like I said, the U.S. Political system can be a little strange.
OK, it’s late. I don’t want to read through another 300 amendments. Especially when the amendment that has the cut to IDEA is buried in a quick summary like “to eliminate unnecessary spending”.
The word on the street (and probably somewhere on the Thomas.loc.gov website) is that the IDEA funding increase was cut down.
Does that mean the struggle is over? Hardly. It won’t be easy to get the funding level increased again, but keep in mind, the Senate and House versions of the bill are not the same. Before they send it to President Obama, they have to reconcile the two bills.
Or, as one news story puts it:
So, there is a chance for the the House to assert its version of IDEA funding.
In other words, now would be a good time to call, email or fax your member of congress or senators.