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Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Teague Undecided; Others Lean Toward Support
By Michael Coleman
Journal Washington Bureau
The big question in the U.S. House this week is whether Democrats will have enough votes to pass the Senate version of a health care bill.
At the urging of the White House, Democrats in the House are planning a vote late this week on health care, President Barack Obama's signature domestic agenda item. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is still trying to wrangle the 216 votes needed to pass the legislation.
The plan is for the House to approve the already-passed Senate bill, and then use a budget maneuver called reconciliation to make fixes to the Senate legislation.
This strategy would avoid a bill-killing Republican filibuster in the Senate.
Rep. Harry Teague, a New Mexico Democrat who voted against the House version of health care overhaul, is one member among many who House leaders will be pressuring hard to support the Senate bill.
As of Monday, Teague hadn't made up his mind.
"I don't want to say for sure until we see exactly what the Senate sends over, but we're going to look at it," Teague told me earlier this month. "There are definitely some things in there we don't like."
Teague's spokeswoman, Sara Schreiber, echoed those remarks, adding that Teague also isn't thrilled with the prospect of using reconciliation to get a health care overhaul to Obama's desk.
Reps. Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich, also New Mexico Democrats, voted for the House bill and each has expressed an initial willingness to embrace the reconciliation plan.
Heinrich spokesman John Blair said Friday that his boss will vote in support of the Senate bill. Luján is leaning that way, too, said Mark Nicastre, his spokesman.
"While the Senate bill and the president's proposal aren't perfect, they do have some promising components," Nicastre said. "The congressman is closely reviewing the proposals."
Both of New Mexico's Democratic senators, Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall, have said they support the Democrats' reconciliation plan.
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