From a reader:
While writing a fax to send to our Congresswoman urging her to “pass the damn bill,” I found it disturbingly time-consuming to locate “the damn bill” so I could double-check some provisions in it.
The Senate bill is a substitute amendment to a House bill utterly unrelated to health care: Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009 — “Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) exempt members of the uniformed services, the Foreign Service, and employees of the intelligence community on official extended duty service from the recapture requirements of the first-time homebuyer tax credit; (2) extend the first-time homebuyer tax credit through November 30, 2010, for individuals serving on official extended duty service outside the United States for at least 90 days in 2009; (3) exclude from gross income payments to military personnel to compensate for declines in housing values due to a base closure or realignment; and (4) increase penalties for failure to file a partnership or S corporation tax return. Amends the Corporate Estimated Tax Shift Act of 2009 to increase corporate estimated tax payments in the third quarter of 2014 by an additional 0.5%.” Yup, that’s where I would’ve thought to look for health-care reform.
I suspect others might experience a similar difficulty. Here are the links I’ve added to my “Favorites” so I don’t have to retrace last night’s efforts:
The Senate bill - H.R. 3590 (as amended and passed the Senate) - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Senate Amendment 2786 to H.R. 3590 (as introduced): http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr3590AS/pdf/BILLS-111hr3590AS.pdf
Information page for H.R. 3590, as amended by the Senate
Senate Democratic Policy Committee: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (collection of links)
The House bill - H.R. 3962 - Affordable Health Care for America Act (enrolled version; as passed on 11/7/2009)
Information page for H.R. 3962
Speaker Pelosi’s page on Affordable Health Care for America Act (collection of links)
Thanks, Mark!
(I wonder why somebody doesn’t insert a line saying ‘blah blah blah - Joe Smith is hereby Imperial Lord and subject to no laws’)
“The Senate bill is a substitute amendment to a House bill utterly unrelated to health care”
Ah, so, as a revenue measure, it also violates the requirement that revenue measures originate in the House?