HouseWatch Alert for the week of March 7, 2017

Dear Friend,

Congressional Republicans introduced their health care repeal bill last night and it looks ominous for Florida families, as it (1) eliminates the marketplace where over 1.7 million Floridians have found affordable coverage options, (2) institutes huge cuts to families who rely on Medicaid for their health services (children, persons with Alzheimer’s disease, patients requiring skilled nursing, & more), and (3) shortens the life of the Medicare Trust fund. My Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to debate and “mark up” the bill starting tomorrow. I am disappointed that Republicans are pushing passage of the bill without knowing the cost and how many families will lose coverage. I will provide more information after I analyze the bill. Feel free to follow me on Facebook or Twitter for updates this week.

This week in the U.S. House, Republicans have scheduled votes on the following bills. Share your views on any of these bills:

H.R. 1301 – FY 2017 Defense Appropriations – Represents a bipartisan agreement between House and Senate for FY 2017 (through Sept.) Defense funding to $583.7 billion, $10.9 billion more than FY 2016. It provides appropriations to DOD and other agencies for Military Personnel; Operation and Maintenance; Procurement; Research, Development, Test and Evaluation; the Defense Health Program; Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction; Drug-Interdiction and Counter-Drug Activities, Office of the Inspector General; Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System Fund and the Intelligence Community Management Account; and appropriations for Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism.

H.R. 725 – Innocent Party Protection Act of 2017 –  Establishes a national standard for federal courts on how to decide diversity jurisdiction, favoring federal courts. This bill is, at its core, another effort by Republicans to tilt the civil justice playing field in favor of corporate defendants by making it more difficult for plaintiffs to pursue state law claims in state court. 

H.R. 985 – Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017 & H.R. 906 – Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act – Prohibits federal courts from certifying proposed classes of individuals for a class-action lawsuit unless each member of the class has suffered the same type and degree of injury. The bills will shield corporate wrongdoers and make it more difficult for injured individuals to pursue class-action lawsuits, while trust provisions could make asbestos victims more vulnerable to identity theft and make it more difficult for them to receive compensation for their asbestos exposure.

H.R. 720 – Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act – Modifies federal rules governing civil lawsuits to require federal courts to impose sanctions on parties that violate the existing prohibition on the filing of frivolous lawsuits. While the bill is intended to discourage frivolous lawsuits, similar rules in existence before 1993 sparked an explosion of unnecessary litigation as lawyers sought to force compensation from one another.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.