SAFRA Passes Senate, Back to House
The U.S. Senate just voted 56-43 to pass the combined health care/student loan reconciliation bill (PDF). The bill did, however, have two changes to it, which means it must now go back to the House for a final vote before the fixes are official. In case you having trouble understanding this process, think of it like this video. As expected, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) voted against the bill and was joined by the two Democratic Senators, Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln. Georgia Republican Johnny Isakson did not vote.
Here are the two bill changes:
1) Limitation on decreases. Because Pell Grant increases will now be pegged to the consumer price index (CPI), the House-passed version of the legislation contained a provision saying that a negative change in the CPI would not lead to a decrease in the maximum award. The Senate Parliamentarian found that this change violated the rules of reconciliation and so was taken out. (It’s on page 118, lines 15 through 25 of this PDF.)
2) Redesignation of some paragraphs. Since the legislation makes changes to existing Pell statute, the letters associated with some paragraphs have to change (i.e. designate paragraph A as paragraph B). Throughout the constant revisions of