Should the Senate Not Vote on Reconciliation Bills Unless a Hearing is Held? (S. 1376)

What is S. 1376?

(Updated July 30, 2019)

This bill — known as the No Hearing, No Vote Act — would require that all reconciliation bills receive a committee hearing before they’re brought up for a vote in the Senate. The hearing would need to occur in either the Budget Committee, or in one of the committees given reconciliation instructions, and the bill would need to be reported favorably to the Senate. A hearing would need to be held for each major provision of the reconciliation in a relevant committee.

Bills considered under the reconciliation process can be passed with a simple majority vote in the Senate, rather than the 60 votes that are normally required for legislation.

Argument in favor

Reconciliation bills need less support than regular legislation that moves through the Senate and often contain partisan policies. As a result they need the scrutiny a hearing would provide.

Argument opposed

Senators should be able to bring a reconciliation bill up for a vote without holding a committee hearing if it has enough support. It wouldn’t be wise to slow the Senate down even more.

Impact

The Senate.

Cost of S. 1376

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced this bill to prevent Senate Republicans from bringing their proposed healthcare bill up for a vote without holding hearings on it:

“Senate Republicans’ attempts to pass Trumpcare in the dark of night, without any transparency is one of the most egregious examples of legislative malpractice in decades. Republicans have held zero committee hearings, solicited zero bipartisan support, and plan to allow zero public debate — and all because they are ashamed that this new version of Trumpcare would result in American families paying more for less coverage, just so the uber-wealthy can get a new massive tax break. To all of America, this should be a red alert.”

This legislation has the support of 39 cosponsors in the Senate, all of whom caucus as Democrats.

Media:

• Cosponsoring Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) Press Release
  
• The Hill
  
• New York Times
  
• Common Dreams (In Favor)