Congressional roll call House
Here’s how area members of Congress voted on major issues during the legislative week ending May 17.
HEALTH LAW: Voting 234183 against, the House on May 16 passed a bill (HR 987) that would bolster sections of the Affordable Care Act the Trump administration has allowed to deteriorate while pursuing dismantlement and repeal of the law. In an effort to reduce prescription drug costs, the measure also would change laws and regulations to expand and accelerate the marketing of generic versions of brand-name drugs. Reversing a presidential order, the bill would restore the 2010 health law’s original three-month limit on short-term health insurance plans that do not meet core coverage requirements, including protections for people with pre-existing conditions. The bill also would authorize spending $100 million annually over 10 years on advertising campaigns and “navigator” programs to boost ACA enrollment. And it would recommend a $200 million outlay to establish insurance exchanges in states that now send residents to the federal exchange to buy ACA coverage. Enrollment in federal and state ACA exchanges, or marketplaces, peaked at 12.7 million in the last year of the Obama administration, and has declined by 930,000 enrollees, or 7.3 percent, during the Trump administration, according to the Government Accountability Office. Unofficial tallies show that in 2018, about 25 million individuals received coverage in ACA exchanges or as a result of the law’s expanded Medicaid eligibility, while 2.6 million young adults were covered by their parents’ health plan under terms of the law. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
Antonio Delgado, DRhinebeck: Yes Sean Maloney, D-Cold Spring: Yes CANCER RESEARCH: Voting 188 in favor and 228 opposed, the House on May 16 defeated a Republican motion to HR 987 (above) to shift millions of dollars from Affordable Care Act enrollment accounts to National Institutes of Health research into childhood cancer. The measure targeted the ACAs navigator program, in which the government hires outside groups to help individuals and small businesses sign up for medical insurance in ACA marketplaces. The Trump administration has cut the navigator budget by about 90 percent while presiding over a 7.3 percent decline since 2016 in enrollment in the ACAs state and federal marketplaces. A yes vote was to adopt the motion.
Delgado: No Maloney: No SEX-BASED BIAS:
Voting 236-137, the House on May 17 passed a bill (HR 5) that would expand the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Fair Housing Act of 1968 to protect LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) individuals against discrimination based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. The proposed Equality Act also would expand the Civil Rights Acts listing of public accommodations to include retail stores, banks and transportation and healthcare services, and it would designate sexual characteristics as a protected class in public accommodations. In addition, the bill would prohibit the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1994 from being invoked to sanction discrimination against the LGBT community. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate. Delgado: Yes Maloney: Yes TITLE IX: The House defeated, 181 in favor and 228 opposed, a Republican motion that sought to void HR 5 (above) if it were to undercut protections conferred by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX ensures women and girls the same access as men and boys to federally funded education programs, including sports activities, in schooling through the collegiate level. A yes vote was to adopt the motion.
Delgado: No Maloney: No
Senate
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GEN
ERAL: Voting 52-45, the Senate on May 16 confirmed Jeffrey A. Rosen, deputy secretary of the Department of Transportation, as deputy attorney general. He replaces Rod J. Rosenstein as the second ranking official at the Department of Justice. Rosen, 61, previously served in the George W. Bush administration and has alternated between government assignments and work in private practice in Washington. A yes vote was to confirm the nominee.
Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.:
Did not vote Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.: No FEDERAL JUDGE: Voting 52-45, the Senate on May 16 confirmed Wendy Vitter, the general counsel of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, as a federal district, or trial-level, judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Republicans said Vitters long experience as a parishlevel district attorney helped qualify her for the federal judgeship, while Democratic criticized her views on women’s reproductive-rights, for making false statements about Planned Parenthood, and for declining to say whether she feels the Supreme Court correctly decided the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education schooldesegregation ruling. A yes vote was to confirm the nominee. Gillibrand: Did not vote Schumer: No
Coming up
The House this week will take up bills to rejuvenate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and reform rules for 401(k) retirement accounts. The Senate will debate disaster aid and judicial nominations.