S.22 Stalls in the House
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The infamous Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 seems to be in a state of legislative limbo and its fate is uncertain.
You will remember that at the end of the last session, Senator Coburn prevented passage in the Senate of this 180 plus public lands bill (that also included permanent designation of the National Lands Conservation System, NLCS) even though the measure passed in the House earlier in the session.
Now, it seems the reverse is true. In last month's newsletter, we reported that the Senate passed S. 22 by a vote of 73-21. We assumed at the time that the House of Representatives would rush passage of the measure and quickly send it to President Obama for his signature. Well, not so fast. We were mistaken about the definition of speed. In an attempt to move the legislation quickly through the House floor, House leaders decided that they would not allow any amendments to S.22 when the House begins consideration of the measure. Such a maneuver requires a super majority for approval and it seems as though the leadership is short in getting the required number of votes.
House Democratic leaders are now trying to find a way out of this mess. One option is to begin breaking the Omnibus measure up into multiple parts and voting on each separate bill. If that happens, each measure would then go back to the Senate for approval, meaning that parts of S. 22 will have to go through the legislative process in dribs and drabs. ARRA members have consistently opposed this measure and have made their feelings known with Members of Congress and that opposition appears to be having some impact.
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The infamous Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 seems to be in a state of legislative limbo and its fate is uncertain.
You will remember that at the end of the last session, Senator Coburn prevented passage in the Senate of this 180 plus public lands bill (that also included permanent designation of the National Lands Conservation System, NLCS) even though the measure passed in the House earlier in the session.
Now, it seems the reverse is true. In last month's newsletter, we reported that the Senate passed S. 22 by a vote of 73-21. We assumed at the time that the House of Representatives would rush passage of the measure and quickly send it to President Obama for his signature. Well, not so fast. We were mistaken about the definition of speed. In an attempt to move the legislation quickly through the House floor, House leaders decided that they would not allow any amendments to S.22 when the House begins consideration of the measure. Such a maneuver requires a super majority for approval and it seems as though the leadership is short in getting the required number of votes.
House Democratic leaders are now trying to find a way out of this mess. One option is to begin breaking the Omnibus measure up into multiple parts and voting on each separate bill. If that happens, each measure would then go back to the Senate for approval, meaning that parts of S. 22 will have to go through the legislative process in dribs and drabs. ARRA members have consistently opposed this measure and have made their feelings known with Members of Congress and that opposition appears to be having some impact.