I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
On Thursday evening the U.S. House of Representatives voted 220-207 to send the reconciliation “fix” bill to health care reform to President Barack Obama. The vote was made necessary after the Senate parliamentarian ruled some pieces of the bill didn’t fall in line with reconciliation rules. The Senate passed the legislation earlier in the day.
This is the final piece of work by the legislative branch on the health care reform package.
AS with all the major votes on health care, the House delegation was split on the vote. Rep. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján voted for the reconciliation bill while Rep. Harry Teague voted against the reconciliation bill.
The reconciliation bill was designed to remove some of the more controversial aspects of the original Senate bill, including the so-called “Cornhusker Kickback” which would have given Nebraska another $100 million in Medicaid funding. The reconciliation bill also does some other notable things, including closing the coverage gap, or “donut hole” in the Medicare Part D program.
The House passed the main health care reform bill on Sunday evening and President Barack Obama signed the health care overhaul on Tuesday. The House also passed the original version of the reconciliation bill on Sunday night.
When Congress comes back from recess in two weeks, it will be the first time in over a year that Congress has not been working on a comprehensive health care reform bill.
