Didn't the House recess on July 30? Yes, but unfortunately for many Representatives, they had to cut their pre-scheduled August family vacations short because Speaker Pelosi decided to call them back…for one day. Today, the House passed the $26.1 billion state bailout package by a vote of 247-161. This was the Senate-amended FAA Reauthorization (note: with zero aviation language) that NTU opposed last week. To clarify, Senator Reid replaced the original FAA bill (H.R. 1586) with his amendment to authorize $10 billion for an "education jobs fund" and $16.1 billion to extend Federal Medical Assistance Percentages funding. The Reid-Murray Amendment passed the Senate 61-39 last Thursday, automatically sending the legislation (now named the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act) back to the House for the vote that occurred this afternoon. Here are a few excerpts from our distributed Vote Alert:
"The $10 billion slush fund to bail out states with budget shortfalls is being offered on top of the $100 billion in "stimulus" resources provided to education in 2009 – 33 percent of which has yet to be spent."
"Most troubling is the amendment's 'pay-for': a $9.6 billion permanent tax increase."
“…the result, according to Congressional Budget Office’s scorekeeping, is that H.R. 1586 would still add nearly $12.6 billion in deficits to the nation’s balance sheet.”
The Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act will now move to President Obama’s desk to be signed into law.