Lost in all the hubbub over the potential threat of using budget reconciliation for health care, which would void the need for 60 votes in the Senate to pass health care, is that the budget passed back in April also included the possibility of reconciliation for education reform. No really, its true:
It appears that House and Senate Democrats have agreed to include "budget reconciliation instructions" aimed at reforming federal student loan programs in the fiscal year 2010 budget resolution. The House and Senate each adopted their own versions of the 2010 budget resolution several weeks ago and will bring a final compromise version up for a vote this week. The most important piece of the budget resolution for education programs is the reconciliation instruction.
In fact, not only was the possibility of using budget reconciliation for education reform included in the budget this past spring, but it appears that Senate Democrats are actually going to use reconciliation for education reform. Again, this is really happening:
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is risking an intra-party battle by fast-tracking legislation that seeks to cut off federal subsidies to student loan companies.
Harkin said he will attempt to use special budget rules that only require a simple majority vote to advance a bill that would end the Federal Family Education Loan program, which would free up money for other education programs.(...)
Harkin, when asked this week about centrists' worries, said he plans to go ahead with the special procedure because the budget resolution, approved by Democrats in April, tells him he can.
"We've already been instructed by the Budget Committee to do this, so we're going to do it," said Harkin, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
Senate Democratic leaders have also signaled openness to force the majority vote.
The eventual fate of the planned education reforms is unclear. Five Democratic Senators--Begich, Bingaman, Lincoln, Ben Nelson, and Tom Udall--are currently opposed. Seven others are on the fence. Assuming that all Republicans are opposed, the reform has between 48 an 55 votes in the Senate. This means that education reform has to be passed through reconciliation, or else it currently does not have enough votes to reach cloture.
Also, it would have to be packaged with health care reform, since only one reconciliation bill can be passed each year:
The bill won't move in the Senate until lawmakers make more progress on healthcare legislation, Harkin said. If Democratic leaders decide to use reconciliation rules for the healthcare bill, they would have to package it with the education reforms, since Senate rules allow for consideration of only one reconciliation bill each year.
This significantly improves the argument for using reconciliation to pass a public option. According to our whip count, there are enough votes to pass health care reform with a public option through reconciliation. If important education reform can only be passed through reconciliation, then reconciliation should be used for education reform. Further, if reconciliation is used for education reform, then why not use it for a public option, too?
We need these important pieces of legislation--student loan reform and a public option. We have a procedural path to pass both. Abandoning one, or both, for the sake of Senate manners is simply not the kind of governing we need. It is time to put principle over politics, and take the procedural steps necessary to pass important legislation.
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