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What’s up in the Senate?

Posted by: Erin Kelly on Nov 16, 2009

We've won the battle for health reform in the House, but we still have a few steps to go. Now the Senate takes center stage. The legislative process in the Senate is much different from the House, so we thought we'd give you a preview of what to expect.

To begin reviewing the bill on the Senate floor, a Senator has to make a motion to proceed with the bill. If no Senators object, the bill moves ahead. If any one Senator objects, Majority Leader Harry Reid must file a "cloture motion."

The term might sound complicated, but SEIU sums up the cloture process nicely,

This will be the first step, where the Senate will ask itself: Do enough of us want to start debating specific health care reform legislation on the floor? Assuming that 60 senators do, the process will continue.

If 60 Senators say yes, they start debate on the bill. The Senate debate will last much longer than the House. Not only will the Senate spend more time discussing different aspects of the bill, the process will also be punctuated by procedural votes to move on from one amendment to another.

SEIU says,

...we expect the entire Senate floor debate of health care reform to be a process that could last, at minimum, a couple of weeks.

Senator Reid says that we can expect the Senate's health reform bill by Christmas. He sent in a proposal to the Congressional Budget Office two weeks ago, but he is still waiting to receive a score from CBO. Last week he filed a motion to bring the bill to the floor as soon as this week, assuming he hears back from CBO. The Senate is scheduled to be on recess during the week of Thanksgiving, so debate could officially begin within the next couple weeks.

Former President Clinton met with Democrats in the Senate earlier this week to urge them to pass the bill - and quickly. He said,

It's not important to be perfect here. It's important to act, to move, to start the ball rolling.... I think it is good politics to pass this and to pass it as soon as they can.

Stay tuned to the blog for everything that's happening in the Senate - as we get closer to health reform, the status of the bill may change by the hour. But if all goes according to Senator Reid's plan, we can expect the best gift this Christmas: health reform.