Fresh megabill text overnight: what's in and what's out
The latest text of the measure, which Senate leaders are hoping to start procedural votes on Saturday afternoon, was released just before midnight. The latest text reflects rulings by the parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, after she warned Republicans that several pieces of the bill didn't meet strict budget reconciliation rules that allow the bill to pass along party lines.
Between Byrd rule compliance and senators' own concerns about impacts of certain cuts and policies, there were a deluge of changes in the latest text.
Here's a roundup of some of what's new:
Health care: Senate Republicans are planning to provide a $25 billion stabilization fund for rural hospitals over five years. That's a significant increase from the $15 billion offer Senate GOP leadership had made to a group of Medicaid moderates earlier. The new package also delays cuts to provider taxes that fund state obligations to Medicaid, with the drawdown beginning in 2028.
SALT: The new Senate text keeps House Republicans' plan to increase the deduction from $10,000 to $40,000. But it would snap back to current levels after 2029. The change is expected to shave at least $100 billion from the approximately $350 billion price tag of the House plan.
SNAP: Alaska and Hawaii could be temporarily exempted from the requirement for cost-sharing for the nation's largest anti-hunger program under the new language. The bill grants the Agriculture secretary authority to waive the two states' cost-share requirement for up to two years if they are 'actively implementing' a plan to lower their payment error rates for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Both states would also be eligible for waivers to bypass the new SNAP work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents, if the Agriculture secretary deems they are making a 'good faith effort' to comply with the requirements.
Energy: The new text would require solar and wind generation projects seeking to qualify for the Inflation Reduction Act's clean electricity production and investment tax credits to be placed in service — or plugged into the grid — by the end of 2027. That's much more restrictive than an earlier version that tied eligibility to when a project begins construction. It would also deny wind and solar leasing arrangements to residential customers from accessing the climate law's clean electricity investment and production tax credits.
The bill has more energy changes, including:
Land sales: The bill would order the sale of up to 0.5 percent of Bureau of Land Management land across 11 states. Eligible lands would have to fall within five miles of a population center, and protected lands excluded. The new text would set aside money from each sale for hunting, fishing and recreational amenities. The parliamentarian has yet to rule on the new framework, after flagging a previous version.
Federal pensions: The new text eliminates a proposal to hike federal employees' required retirement contributions and charge unions for time spent engaging in organizing activities, after the parliamentarian ruled that several of the GOP's civil service provisions violated the chamber's reconciliation rules.
Education: Gone from the new bill language are provisions to expand the Pell Grants to short-term workforce training programs outside of the accreditation system and at for-profit programs. The change came after the Senate parliamentarian warned that it ran afoul of the chamber's strict reconciliation rules.
Also stripped out was language that blocked doctors and dentists from having their student loan payments during residency count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The new language would delay — rather than repeal — Biden era regulations that made it easier for student borrowers to have federal loans forgiven if schools either defrauded them or closed for 10 years.
Immigration: At the recommendation of the parliamentarian, the latest version of the bill does not include language that would have limited the ability of federal courts to issue preliminary injunctions or temporary restraining orders against the U.S. if a bond had not been posted.
Jordain Carney, Juan Perez Jr., Hailey Fuchs, Kelsey Tamborrino, James Bikales, Timothy Cama, Kelsey Brugger, Garrett Downs, Manuel Quiñones, Lawrence Ukenye, Benjamin Guggenheim and Samuel Benson contributed to this report.
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