Posted on 10/16/2013 4:36:19 PM PDT by Libloather
The legislation released by the Senate late Wednesday to reopen the government contains several surprises.
The bill includes extra funds to fix flooded roads in Colorado, a $3 million appropriation for a civil liberties oversight board and a one-time payment to the widow of Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who died over the summer.
It also includes a more than $2 billion increase in funding for construction on the lower Ohio River in Illinois and Kentucky. Current law authorizes $775 million in spending for related projects, and the bill increases it to $2.918 billion.
The Senate Conservatives Fund quickly called that language the "Kentucky Kickback," and said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) secured that as the price of his support for the bill.
Senate staffers were still scrambling to piece the bill together for votes in the House and Senate Wednesday night. Lawmakers hope to get it to President Obamas desk before Thursdays deadline for raising the debt ceiling.
A draft of the bill began circulating in the early evening, and a final version was released by Senate Democratic staff just before 6 p.m.
The legislation also includes specific language that aims to pay back furloughed federal government workers as soon as is practicable.
Section 115 of the text says government workers who are furloughed because of the shutdown "shall be compensated at their standard rate of compensation, for the period of such lapse in appropriations, as soon as practicable after such lapse in appropriations."
Section 116 says states that funded a federal program will be compensated as well, and that the government will pay back states for these costs.
The legislation broadly re-opens the government through Jan. 15, and extends the ability of the government to borrow money through Feb. 7. It does so by allowing President Obama to waive the debt ceiling, a move that can be overridden by a resolution of disapproval by Congress that Obama could still veto.
The Senate bill uses H.R. 2775 as a vehicle for all of these changes. That bill was originally a House GOP bill that would have delayed all health insurance subsidies until a system is put in place to verify incomes for eligibility purposes.
The Senate language does give that issue a nod, by including new rules for verifying household income to determine eligibility for subsidies to buy health insurance under ObamaCare. It specifically requires the government to "certify to the Congress that the Exchanges verify such eligibility."
The secretary of Health and Human Services would have to submit a report to Congress detailing procedures used by the exchanges, and an inspector general report would be required by July 1.
Elsewhere, the bill allows the Department of Transportation to spend up to $450 million to fund the repair of Colorado roads that were damaged by floods. In September, the House passed a bill allowing the department to spend more than the $100 million cap on Colorado roads.
The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board would get $3.1 million under the bill. The board was set up in 2004 to ensure privacy concerns are addressed as laws and regulations are issued related to fighting terrorist threats against the country.
Lawmakers and President Obama have sought to jumpstart the board in the wake of the revelations about National Security Agency surveillance.
Another part of the bill, Section 148, holds that no adjustment shall be made related to a cost of living adjustment for members of Congress in fiscal 2014.
Throw the fu@$ing bums out.
They just gave obama a blank check. He can now give the peoples’ money to anyone he wants. Including our enemies and his staff. The house is now irrelevant.
That dam project is in Ohio and Kentucky.
Bonehead is from Ohio. McConnell is from Kentucky.
Ironic isn’t it?
Like Mark Levin just said: “so much for the ‘clean’ continuing resolution”
Obama told them the REPUBLICANS would be blamed.
House Dems Sent Boehner a Message: Strike a Deal and Maybe We Can Help Protect Your Speakership
He said, “I’ll get back to you.”
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/10/john-boehner-democrats-debt-ceiling-deal-speakership
Yeah, that will come after the Christmas Eve announcement that amnesty has been granted. So...in that case...who cares anymore?
I hope it was worth it to you Mitchie. You’re going down.
I am sure that Mrs. Lautenberg is a lovely person, but she is richer than Midas. Frank Lautenberg was worth about $100,000,000 when he died. Why to the hard pressed taxpayers have to kick in another $174,000 for his widow?
This is chump change to her, but real money to you or me.
I thought Reid and the Rats were insisting on a “Clean Bill”???
Absolutely agree- obama threatened them with the complete destruction of our country. But he’s going to do that anyway. the sooner we deal with it and face it the less painful it will be .But we better hurry up and face it, cause it’s going to be more difficult to get our country back the longer it goes. It was like obama told congress- either I kill you or you kill yourself.Figurativly. They shoulda pulled a Deerhunter on him. Metaphoriccly
Why don’t they just put an Enabling Act in there?
May as well.
In other words, Senator Mitch McConnell gave away what is the House's prerogative. No wonder Harry Reid was willing to give him $2 billion for his damn dam...
And, if I'm not mistaken, this is the second time Mitch has tried to pull this trick.
How can the House possibly stand for this?
We now amend the Constitution with a few laws, not with an Amendment! How... progressive!
Oh, well.
Boner is just dumb enough to believe them. If someone challenges him everyone of the democrats will vote for Pelosi and she would be speaker again. The democrats are hoping someone challenges Boner. I wish someone would challenge boner. Then the rinos would have the choice of voting for a true conservative or voting for Pelosi.
Wil do! If it hasn’t already been done.
The Speaker of the U.S. House is elected by the majority of the majority caucus. The minority caucus has no say.
Senators cannot BE impeached.
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