ADVERTISEMENT

Anyone here a parliamentarian?

TheOriginalHappyGoat

Moderator
Moderator
Oct 4, 2010
69,822
45,601
113
Margaritaville
One of the options being seriously talked about tonight is to pass a placeholder bill (in the form of the skinny repeal), and then let conference flesh it out. However, the Senate has a standing rule that, among other things, says that if a conference report contains matters that were not in either version of the bill sent to conference, a point of order can be raised, which, as I understand it, requires 60 votes to waive.

So the question is, how different does something have to be to be considered a separate "matter?" Is it good enough to simply have a bill about health care, or does the bill need to have provisions touching on all aspects of the ACA that might end up being dealt with in the conference report?
 
One of the options being seriously talked about tonight is to pass a placeholder bill (in the form of the skinny repeal), and then let conference flesh it out. However, the Senate has a standing rule that, among other things, says that if a conference report contains matters that were not in either version of the bill sent to conference, a point of order can be raised, which, as I understand it, requires 60 votes to waive.

So the question is, how different does something have to be to be considered a separate "matter?" Is it good enough to simply have a bill about health care, or does the bill need to have provisions touching on all aspects of the ACA that might end up being dealt with in the conference report?
Not an expert, but 538's live blog seems to suggest the savings are what is important. The example is pass a huge widget tax.
 
Not an expert, but 538's live blog seems to suggest the savings are what is important. The example is pass a huge widget tax.
I noticed that. I think people are confusing two different things. One is the reconciliation process, in which the numbers are important. But what I'm talking about (and I've seen a few raise this point elsewhere since I started this thread) is the standing Senate rule regarding conference reports. Members can object to any "matter" in the report that wasn't in either of the original bills. The question I have is how strict this is.
 
ADVERTISEMENT