"NO" on House Reconciliation Bill (H.R. 3762)
"NO" on House Reconciliation Bill (H.R. 3762)
On Friday, the House is scheduled to vote on the so-called Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act (H.R. 3762). The bill would not restore Americans' health care freedom because it leaves the main pillars of Obamacare in place, nor would it actually defund abortion giant Planned Parenthood. This bill violates an explicit promise made in the budget, which "affirm[ed] the use of reconciliation for the sole purpose of repealing the President's job-killing health care law."
Why is it so important that we use reconciliation to repeal Obamacare this Congress?
Reconciliation is a powerful tool to get legislation through Congress, but it has no value as a law-making exercise with President Obama in the White House (i.e. any Republican bill will be vetoed; any bill he would sign would get Democrat support and 60 Senate votes and not need the reconciliation process). Therefore, reconciliation should be used on a unifying effort to create a contrast with President Obama and send a winning message to the American people. And nothing unifies Republicans and provides a better messaging opportunity than repealing Obamacare.
But that is not all: Using reconciliation this year is important because it should be a trial run for 2017, when we will hopefully have a President willing to sign a full repeal bill. If we are short of 60 votes in 2017, then we will need to use the reconciliation process to accomplish this. If we do it now and do it right, we can ensure full repeal is a fait accompli in 2017.
Doesn't the House bill qualify as an Obamacare repeal bill?
No. The bill does not even touch Obamacare's main two entitlement expansions: the Medicaid expansion and the exchange subsidies. The bill leaves all of Obamacare's new insurance rules and regulations in place. It also leaves many of Obamacare's taxes in place.
Isn't this all that can be done under reconciliation (under the so-called "Byrd Rule")?
No, not even close. While some continue to debate where the "red line" is on what can and can't be repealed under reconciliation, nobody is arguing that this bill contains all of the things that we know can be repealed using reconciliation. The most obvious examples are also two of the most important pillars of Obamacare: the massive Medicaid expansion and exchange subsidies. It is universally acknowledged that those important provisions qualify for reconciliation. The bill also leaves several tax increases and Medicare cuts in place, all of which are clearly reconcilable under the Byrd Rule.
Hasn't the Senate ruled out doing anything more than this?
No. The Senate has not adjudicated full repeal or many of the questions involved in passing a robust repeal bill. Those suggesting that it has are misinformed. Regardless, the Senate should not be used as a foil to convince House conservatives not to do all they can on reconciliation. The House should pass a strong repeal bill and allow the Senate to navigate the Byrd Rule if they must.
Why is it so important that this be full repeal?
The Obamacare repeal movement has been successful in the last 5 years in keeping full repeal intact. It has recognized that it will be much easier to repeal Obamacare as a whole if all of the mandates and entitlement expansions are repealed at once, since we know that the law is vastly unpopular when taken as a whole. The threat is that "repeal" is defined-down to simply mean repealing a couple high-profile provisions, while allowing the main pillars of the law to continue untouched. This package threatens that very outcome: defining down "full repeal" and jeopardizing the entire repeal effort.
Is full repeal possible using reconciliation?
Yes. Under reconciliation law and precedent, Congress should absolutely be able to repeal all of Obamacare using reconciliation. One way of accomplishing that is described in detail, though any approach that accomplishes that goal should be on the table.
Can the Senate pass full repeal?
Yes. The Senate is on record just recently on full repeal. Remember, 51 Senate Republicans voted to pass the budget, which contemplated full repeal, including a repeal of all of the entitlement spending that is not included in the House repeal package. The Senate also took a vote on a stand-alone repeal amendment offered by Majority Leader McConnell to the transportation bill. While that vote failed with 49 votes, there were 5 GOP absentees, all or almost-all of which would surely have voted for it, as they have done time and time again in the past.
Ironically, the provision in this bill that threatens Senate passage the most is the Planned Parenthood provision, which we have recently seen a handful of GOP Senators vote against in recent weeks.
Shouldn't the Planned Parenthood provision be enough to garner conservatives support?
No. All conservatives should absolutely support defunding Planned Parenthood, but we should remember that Planned Parenthood is only included in this package as a show-vote to paper-over the fact that there was no fight to defund Planned Parenthood during the last CR debate. The reconciliation process lacks the necessary leverage to ensure the president eventually signs the bill into law.
Heritage Action opposes H.R. 3762 and will include it as a key vote on our legislative scorecard.
Related:
The Hill: A promise made to repeal Obamacare with reconciliation (May 2015)
Heritage: Why Reconciliations Can't Be Used to Defund Planned Parenthood (September 2015)
IJ Review: GOP Has No Intention Of Ever Defunding Planned Parenthood (September 2015)
The Hill: King v. Burwell helps repeal Obamacare (October 2015)
Lee-Cruz-Rubio: We Cannot Support this Bill (October 2015)
"NO" on House Reconciliation Bill (H.R. 3762)