Then the Real Negotiations Begin
Last week House and Senate Republicans rolled out and had hearings on mirror-image budget proposals. The House version passed last week. The identical Senate version will pass this week – followed by a prompt veto.
Then then the real budget negotiations will begin.
This initial budget emphasizes tax cuts, spending reductions (especially agency budget cuts). Dems highlight potential impacts on healthcare coverage, food aid, and core services.
Normally I’d include a link to the budget the House passed here – but I’ll refrain as it is DOA on the 9th floor.
For now, nearly all policy bills (including those related to public health and healthcare) are in suspended animation.
That includes the bills we’ve been weighing in on this session. For a refresher on where things stood heading into this phase just click on our blog post from earlier in April (not much has changed since then):
In the meantime, a budget compromise will eventually appear, and they’ll finish the session in a blaze of late-night sessions, probably in May sometime.
Note: It’s during those late-night sessions that the Republicans will decide which of the many ballot propositions they will place on the November ballot. I’m certain there will be at least a few that relate directly to public health and healthcare (for the bad). There are also a couple of voter initiatives that are collecting signatures that will affect public health – or public health adjacent stuff like voting rights.
