H.R. 1837 is now "On the Senate Calendar"

Posted by Tim Postel on 2012-03-07 16:32:29

Harry Reid (D-NV; Senate Majority leader) objected to further action following both the first and second readings of H.R. 1837 in the Senate. (Fri March 2nd and Monday March 5th, 2012) Objecting to both the first and second readings under Senate Rule 14 is a common procedural maneuver that prevents the referral of the bill to a Senate committee. That's a bit unfortunate, as historically 40-50% of bills introduced from the House to the Senate (or vice versa) die in committee of the other legislature. I'm not sure whether it tips Mr. Reid's hand as to his intent or not; there are a variety of motivations for using Rule 14 procedures. Anyhow, the probability of success of H.R. 1837 in the Senate just went up this past Monday. As an example, in the 110th Congress, 68% of bills that made it to this legislative stage eventually became law (in one form or another). There are lots of items on the Senate Calendar of Business ( e.g. see today's: http://goo.gl/IfUAq ), and it is also possible for bills to "die on the calendar", but that outcome is pretty unlikely. Anyhow, enough rambling - generally, the Senate Majority Leader loosely controls the scheduling of which items on the Senate calendar come to the floor, and you and I probably won't get more than about a day or so of notice before it is brought to the floor of the Senate for debate and/or amendment. So, if you've been thinking of sending Feinstein, or Boxer, Mr. Reid, or any other Senator a letter - now is probably the time to get it done.

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