Legislation and Hearings for Week of May 16
The House of Representatives is in a "constituent work week" this week. Many members will be holding town-hall meetings and other events to discuss the budget process and legislative action items. This is a great opportunity to talk to your Congressman about the issues that are important to you. Information about these events are generally posted on each member's website. For information about your Congressman, visit house.gov. The Senate will be in session this week but are not scheduled to consider any health related issues on the floor at this time. Although it had been thought that the Budget Committee would hold "mark up" hearings this week for an FY 2012 budget proposal, it is no longer likely that they will hold those hearings this week. It is expected that the committee will hold the "mark up" hearing sometime next week. The Senate Majority and Minority Leaders have agreed to hold votes on both the President's budget and the "Ryan" or House approved budget but have not scheduled a time to vote on those as of yet. Neither plan is likely to pass both chambers of Congress. The Senate HELP Committee will hold a hearing titled "A Nation Prepared: Strengthening Medical and Public Health Preparedness and Response" at 2:30 on Tuesday, the 17th. Full information on this hearing, including testimony after the hearing is concluded, is available at http://help.senate.gov/hearings/. If you have any questions about any legislation or hearing please contact NRHA government relations staff at (202) 639-0550.