Health Care Update: After marathon deliberations that kept Senators in Congress late evenings and weekends, the Senate finally passed its health care reform bill on December 24, 2009 by a vote of 60-39, thus barely overcoming a filibuster of the bill. Republicans threw every procedural hurdle to try to stop the bill, including calling for the reading of entire texts of amendments on the Senate floor, and forcing filibuster busting votes on several key amendments. In addition, some Democrats held out their support until the end after last minute compromises. In order to try to get a health care reform bill through the Senate, Democratic leaders had to jettison efforts to include a public insurance option and instead replace it with a government-run health insurance exchange and tighter regulations on insurance companies. Senators also had to reach a compromise on another controversial issue – prohibiting federal health insurance subsidies from being used to buy policies that cover abortion. Read more...
 House Passes “Jobs for Main Street Act of 2010”: On December 16, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a “jobs” bill that would redirect $75 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) savings from Wall Street to Main Street. The bill would create or save jobs with targeted investments for highways and transit, school renovation, summer jobs for youth, hiring teachers, police, and firefighters, small business, job training and affordable housing. The bill would also extend unemployment benefits for six months, extend from 9 to 15 months the 65% COBRA health insurance subsidy for individuals who have lost their jobs, and provide easier access to loans for small business. The Senate will not take up its jobs bill until January 2010.
House Passes Historic Financial Regulatory Reform Legislation: On December 11, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the “Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,” (H.R. 4173) by a vote of 223-202. This bill includes a comprehensive set of reforms that would modernize America’s financial rules in order to prevent a repeat of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. Included among its many provisions is the creation of a new, independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), solely devoted to protecting Americans from unfair and abusive financial products and services. The bill would also outlaw predatory mortgage lending practices, and ensure that mortgage lenders make loans that benefit the consumer. The Senate is expected to pass its version of regulatory reform sometime in January or early February of 2010.