I just spoke with one of NELP’s contacts in
After last night's overwhelming vote for cloture, there will be more negotiations in order to try to get the minority on board with the bill. It is important to have the minority on board so the bill can pass very quickly. If this small minority holds out, it could take until the end of next week to get the bill passed. If they can't reach an agreement, Senator Reid will move to get the bill passed as quickly as possible without the minority vote.
Since the Senate's version of the bill is different than the House bill, the bill must go back to the House and be approved there. If the Senate can pass the bill tomorrow, then the House can consider the bill on Tuesday or Wednesday. If the Senate does not pass the bill until next week, then the House will consider the bill on the following Tuesday or Wednesday. Right now the most we can do is continue to demand that our respective Senators to take urgent action.
Retroactive Pay:
The new bill allows for retroactive eligibility, but not retroactive pay. Retroactive eligibility means that people who exhausted their benefits prior to the passage of the bill are still covered. However these people will not be entitled to a lump sum payment when the bill is passed. The major reason retroactive payment is not in this bill is that we just cannot afford it. If there was any way for us to be pushing for retroactive pay we definitely would do so. We understand people out there are hurting and right now the main thing is to get this bill passed so we can help those in dire need as soon as possible.
Pro Bono Attorney
National Employment Law Project
Tel: (212) 285-3025
The Tues/Wed thing confuses me since Pelosi said they may be there this weekend and can vote on the bill anytime....ugh...where was that quote.....
ReplyDeleteWhy would it go back to another cloture vote if no more amendments can be added?
ReplyDeleteJerzee, I am sure its just like anything else, I have no doubt that the House can come together for an emergency such as this one. The difference, like always, is literal interpretation versus common knowledge or practices. There are loopholes everywhere so perhaps they plan on dealing with it whenever it gets over there.
ReplyDeleteMatt, I am not sure on that question and I wasnt able to find anything about it. The facts are that more than likely they would never get their petition passed but they will want to go on the record as to trying everything they could to get what they want. It just takes up more days.
ReplyDeleteA few weeks ago I was talking to someone about the cloture process and found on one of the governments websites the break down to the cloturing process and while it is true we have seen the senate get a bill passed without having to go into the additional processes, this is just one of those times when the Senate game players will push everything to the limits. Here to hoping they wont go that route, but Reid did say that they will stay in all weekend long to get it done if they have to.
Matt,
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to the Senate Reference page on the Cloture process. Check out the links, you have to read through all of the links, but I think you can get a clear idea of the possibilities of what can be done. When they first talked about Cloturing this bill they were working on a cloture of a different bill. That process from what we could see appeared to move quickly and unless we all missed something there was only one cloture petition, although I am going to check it out and see if there is something that we missed that made the whole process seem rather quick. I will post a link if I find anything. For now here is the reference link:
http://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_index_subjects/Cloture_vrd.htm
I'm aware of the cloture process. I just don't understand why it would go up for cloture again if nothing can be added or subtracted. The only reason to do it would be to have debates but even the jerks that keep on stalling say they will vote for it. So why waste more time on something that will have no changes to it?
ReplyDeleteI guess we all know the process of cloture but everyone keeps asking the same questions and the answers are in the process. The short of it would be, "because they can". They have not made anything quick and easy so why would anyone think that they would at this point? They have pushed back and pushed back all this time, so what, all of a sudden they are just going to sit back and let it go.
ReplyDeleteYour question originally was: Why would it go back to another cloture vote if no more amendments can be added? The answer to that question is in the process. Perhaps they can add more amendments.
I'm sure there are some people that keep asking the same questions but I'm not "some people". I could care less about the presumption that "they can". They can not add any more amendments. The Republicans stated as much yesterday. So once again, "why do they need another cloture if nothing can be amended outside of stalling"? Why is there another cloture process available when nothing can happen outside of delaying it another 30 hours.
ReplyDelete