The Latest on the Government Shutdown

Both chambers of Congress were in session last week, as lawmakers looked to complete work on several legislative priorities before the upcoming August recess. Last Friday, the House voted 237-173 to pass legislation (H.R. 4935) to overhaul the child tax credit by requiring applicants to provide their Social Security numbers. Separately, the House voted 370-40 […]

Congress limps into the last week of July looking to notch some legislative victories in what has been an otherwise uneventful year.  With only two weeks of session remaining when they return, this last week in July may be the best bet for both chambers to deal with pressing items, such as the highway trust […]

Today, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs’ subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development met to conduct a hearing entitled, “Building Economically Resilient Communities: Local and Regional Approaches.” Witnesses discussed the economic growth that their communities have experienced with investments in public transportation and how their experiences could help others. Subcommittee Chairman […]

Healthcare remained a dominant topic on Capitol Hill last week, punctuated by a bitter debate in the Senate over the Supreme Court’s recentHobby Lobby ruling. On Wednesday, lawmakers failed to advance a bill (S. 2578) that would require companies to provide contraceptive coverage in their employee healthcare plans. The Senate voted 56-43 against invoking cloture on […]

Today marks the 4th anniversary of the signing of the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. While last week saw the usual suspects hold the type of “look back” analysis one would expect on such occasion, Better Markets marked the occasion by highlighting how the public still doesn’t trust “big banks,” believes the markets are rigged, and favors stricter regulations. Interestingly, […]

Medicare still has significant room for improvement in incentivizing care coordination for individuals with multiple chronic conditions, lawmakers concluded at a Senate Finance Committee hearing today. In a hearing focused on the challenges of treating patients with chronic conditions, Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) announced that the Finance Committee will begin a months-long effort “to find […]

Last week, the House passed a fiscal 2015 Energy and Water spending bill (H.R. 4923), marking the midway point in the chamber’s appropriations process for fiscal 2015. The House has passed five other fiscal 2015 appropriations bills while the Senate has yet to approve any spending bills due to a partisan stalemate over amendments. In […]

Although there are a handful of legislative days that will be on the books when Congress returns after the August recess, it appears as if both the House and the Senate are about to enter an intense three week sprint. In the House, this may be part of an effort by the Leadership to “clear […]

On July 10, the House voted 253-70 to approve a fiscal 2015 Energy-Water appropriations bill (H.R.4923) after a marathon session that featured debate and votes on a series of amendments. Overall, the $34 billion Energy-Water appropriations bill would give the EPA $7.5 billion for fiscal 2015, 9 percent below current spending levels. It would also […]

This post, penned by Thorn Run Partner's Billy Wynne, originally appeared in the July 11 edition of Health Affairs.  John Mathewson, executive vice president of Health Care Services for Children with Special Needs (HSC) – a Medicaid managed care plan in D.C. for children on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) – recently spoke at the Association for Community Affiliated […]

Once again Democrats were smirking as Republicans appeared to wage civil war, this time over the decision to renew the charter for the Export-Import Bank. All Art Vandelay jokes aside, the debate over the Ex-Im bank once again has shown the schism in the Republican party, and how there are really three parties in Congress – Republican, […]

The House and Senate were in recess last week for the Fourth of July recess. Despite the break on Capitol Hill, healthcare remained a hot topic in Washington, with two Supreme Court rulings that could have lasting impacts on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In a 5-4 decision last Monday, the Court […]