HOW THEY VOTED
Here’s how area House members voted during the legislative week ending July 4.
HR 5332: Improving Access to Credit Data
Voting 234-179, the House on June 29 passed a bill that would require the credit bureaus Experian, TransUnion and Equifax to establish a joint online portal giving consumers free anytime access to information on their credit scores and reports, dispute histories and sale of personal data to third parties. Consumers now must deal separately with the bureaus and they are allowed a limited number of free views. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
Yes: Madeleine Dean, D-4th (Montgomery, parts of Berks); Susan Wild, D-7th (Lehigh, Northampton, parts of Monroe); Matt Cartwright, D-8th (Lackawanna, Pike, Wayne, parts of Luzerne and Monroe)
No: Brian Fitzpatrick, R-1st (Bucks, parts of Montgomery and Philadelphia); Dan Meuser, R-9th (Schuylkill, parts of Carbon and Berks)
HR 1425: Expanding Affordable Care Act Voting 234-179, the House on June 29 passed a Democratic bill that would reshape the Affordable Care Act by steps such as broadening its Medicaid expansion, capping medical expenditures for certain coverage levels and lowering the cost of prescription drugs offered in Medicare Part D and employer plans. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
Yes: Fitzpatrick, Dean, Wild, Cartwright
No: Meuser
HR 1425: Advancing Covid-19 Medicines
Voting 187-223, the House on June 29 defeated a Republicans bid to keep HR 1425 from taking effect until after federal health officials certify its lowering of drug prices would not delay the development of COVID-19 vaccines or therapies by crimping pharmaceutical companies’ research budgets. A yes vote was to adopt the motion.
Yes: Fitzpatrick, Meuser
No: Dean, Wild, Cartwright
HR2: Approving $1.5 Trillion for Infrastructure
Voting 233-188 against, the House on July 1 approved a $1.5 trillion infrastructure package, with one-third allocated to improving roads, bridges, mass transit and interstate railways over five years. The bill contains numerous green provisions to address the climate crisis. Funding also would be used to upgrade municipal drinking-water systems; dredge harbors; add electric vehicles to the postal fleet; improve rural and inner-city broadband; build affordable housing and improve public facilities ranging from utilities to hospitals to disadvantaged schools. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate. Yes: Fitzpatrick, Dean, Wild, Cartwright
No: Meuser
HR 2: Barring Help for China
By a vote of 224-193, the House on July 1 approved a Republican motion that would prohibit funding in HR 2 from being used to line the pockets of state-owned Chinese companies or build prison camps for China’s population of Muslim Uighurs. A yes vote was to adopt the motion.
Yes: Fitzpatrick, Wild, Meuser
No: Dean, Cartwright
HR 7301: Extending Evictions Freeze
Voting 232-180, the House on June 29 passed a bill that would extend until mid-2021 a freeze on evictions and foreclosures linked to financial hardship caused by the coronavirus. The current moratorium will expire July 25. The bill also would create a $100 billion fund to help tenants pay rent and utility bills during the pandemic. A yes vote was to extend the moratorium while making the relief available to a wider swath of households.
Yes: Dean, Wild, Cartwright
No: Fitzpatrick, Meuser
HR 7301: Barring Help for Undocumented Immigrants
Voting 191-219, the House on June 29 defeated a Republican bid to amend HR 7301 in order to increase oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving benefits. A yes vote was to adopt the motion. Yes: Fitzpatrick, Meuser
No: Dean, Wild, Cartwright
Here’s how Pennsylvania’s senators voted during the legislative week ending July 4.
S 4049: Complete Withdrawal from Afghanistan
Voting 60-33, the Senate on July 1 tabled (killed) an amendment to the fiscal 2021 military budget requiring a complete withdrawal over one year of the 8,600 U.S. combat troops in Afghanistan. The underlying bill, which remained in debate, opposes any “precipitous” ending of America’s 20-year military involvement there, and President Donald Trump has called for reducing the troop level to 4,500 by year’s end but has not set a withdrawal date. A yes vote was in opposition to the troop-withdrawal amendment.
Yes: Pat Toomey, R
No: Bob Casey, D