Non-Transparent Earmark Reporting

Members of Congress are posting their earmark requests online, but in formats that make the information hard to use. Read about it, and read what you can do about it, in a blog post titled: “Earmark Requests Going Online—But in the Wrong Formats.”

Featured Items

The House and Senate are on a two-week recess.

Last weekend and last week, Congress passed a historic pair of bills that combine to overhaul the health care system in the United States.

The House passed H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which the Senate passed late last year.

Its provisions weren’t satisfactory to the House, but the election of Republican Scott Brown to represent Massachusetts in the Senate prevented the Senate taking up the health care legislation again. House leadership thus chose to use a special kind of bill used in the budget process (a “reconciliation” bill) to alter the Senate-passed bill.

This second bill is called H.R. 4872, the Reconciliation Act of 2010. It passed the Senate slightly altered this week, then returned to the House for final passage. (Read about the end-game in the post “Health Care Overhaul Legislation Goes Back to the House.”)

P.L. 111-148
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Costs $7,300.11 per family

H.R. 4872
The Reconciliation Act of 2010
Costs $602.83 per family

What People Think

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 18% For, 82% Against Vote on this Bill

The Reconciliation Act of 2010 16% For, 84% Against Vote on this Bill

Displayed below are new, updated, and passed items with their cost or savings per family.

New Items

H.R. 553
The Reducing Over-Classification Act of 2009
Costs $0.19 per family

S. 1703
A bill to amend the Act of June 18, 1934, to reaffirm the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for Indian tribes
Costs $0.00 per family

S. 148
The Discount Pricing Consumer Protection Act
Costs $0.00 per family

S. 2989
The Small Business Contracting Revitalization Act of 2010
Costs $3.59 per family

H.R. 4894
To amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to ensure appropriate treatment of Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense health programs
Costs $0.00 per family

H.R. 4887
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure that health coverage provided by the Department of Defense is treated as minimal essential coverage
Costs $0.00 per family

H.R. 3125
The Radio Spectrum Inventory Act
Costs $0.14 per family

H.R. 4786
To provide authority to compensate Federal employees for the 2-day period in which authority to make expenditures from the Highway Trust Fund lapsed, and for other purposes
Costs $0.01 per family

S. 1132
The Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act Improvements Act of 2009
Costs $0.00 per family

S. 1789
The Fair Sentencing Act of 2009
Saves $0.36 per family

S. 2772
The Criminal Justice Reinvestment Act of 2009
Costs $0.71 per family

Updated Items

none

Passed Items

P.L. 111-148
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Costs $7,300.11 per family