Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) has introduced legislation to fund the federal government until Dec. 15, 2013. The bill, which includes a provision to defund Obamacare, is expected to be voted on sometime today, Sept. 20.
The legislation, known as a Continuing Resolution (CR), will then be sent to the Senate, where the provision defunding Obamacare is likely to be removed, and then sent back to the House. This back-and-forth may continue right up until Oct. 1, when all federal government funding is set to expire. It’s likely that the legislation would then pass both houses of Congress as a “clean” bill — that is, without any riders.
President Obama has said he opposes any bill that attempts to disrupt implementation of his signature health care plan.
Of greater interest to NAPA Net readers, Speaker Boehner is expected to propose an extension of the debt ceiling so that the government may pay the bills it has incurred. That bill is expected to include provisions to delay the implementation of Obamacare for a year, green-light the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, and instruct the House Ways and Means Committee to expedite tax reform legislation.
Though the details on the tax reform plan still need to be filled in, GOP aides at Ways and Means say the framework could look similar to a bill the House passed last summer that put a detailed timeline for tax reform into place.
NAPA’s government affairs staff will closely monitor these developments and update readers as events warrant. We still expect tax reform to be a very heavy lift for Congress, but this momentum warrants keeping a close eye on Capitol Hill.
Jim Dornan is the Political Director of ASPPA and NAPA.
UPDATED AT 12:30 PM ET, 09/20/13: The House passed the CR this morning by a 230-189 vote, split almost exactly along party lines. The bill included the Obamacare defunding provision. — Ed.
