The timeframe for a student aid reconciliation bill continues to be dependent on the fate of pending healthcare legislation. If Congress is able to pass a healthcare reform package through the normal legislative process, Congress will likely use the budget reconciliation process to pass student aid legislation separately. If Congress is unable to pass healthcare through the normal legislative process, the health bill will likely be combined with student aid legislation to make one reconciliation bill.
The House passed its version of a healthcare reform bill on Nov. 7. A similar bill has yet to be taken up by the Senate. Even after the Senate passes its bill, differences between those bills would need to be resolved before Congressional leaders can be sure they will have a passable bill.
Adding to the murkiness of the situation, one key Senator has signaled that passing healthcare as part of any reconciliation bill would be "a nonstarter."
"Reconciliation is a nonstarter," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) in Roll Call. "It doesn't work. ... It opens itself up to an endless, unstoppable number of amendments."
Rockefeller is one of the leading liberal backers of the public insurance option, a legislative proposal that was thought only passable through budget reconciliation. At one time, Rockefeller had said that using budget reconciliation to pass health reform was a possibility, but backtracked yesterday saying he must have been "drunk" when he first made that comment.
Reconciliation, which would allow Democrats in the Senate to pass a healthcare bill with a simple majority, limits debate to just 20 hours on the floor but does not limit the number of amendments that can be offered, Roll Call reports. "If the 20 hours have expired, the Senate would enter into a round-the-clock 'vote-a-rama' on amendments until they are all voted on."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is pushing hard to begin the healthcare debate this week, but some speculate that Republicans may try to filibuster a motion to even proceed on the debate. Time is running out for the Senate to act on the healthcare bill this year, according to the Wall Street Journal.
What does this all mean for student aid legislation? As NASFAA reported in October, it is unlikely that any student aid legislation will be brought before the Senate Education Committee until Senate leaders have decided whether to include healthcare in the budget reconciliation process. In short, we likely won't see student aid legislation in the Senate in the immediate future.
It does appear that legislation to extend ECASLA could be introduced in the Senate in the near future. However, Senate education leaders remain committed to the administration's proposal to use savings from eliminating FFELP by July 2010 to bolster higher education spending programs like the Pell Grant without extending ECASLA, since doing so would negatively affect the projected savings of the bill.
By Justin Draeger
Vice President of Public Policy and Advocacy
Posted 11/18/09 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.
