Committees Hold Hearings - Draft Legislation

Step 2: Committees Hold Hearings / Draft Legislation

(this step has been completed)

Congress, and especially the relevant Congressional committees, are considering the President's health care proposal/principles for reform and beginning the process of formulating and moving legislation through Congress. Congressional leadership, including Max Baucus, Ted Kennedy, Steny Hoyer, Henry Waxman, Pete Stark, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid, have indicated that a health care bill will be drafted and passed out of committee by this summer.

As the beginning of the formal legislative process, in this step the relevant committees in both the House and Senate (see graphic above) are currently intensifying their efforts to receive input on various aspects of health care reform through formal hearings and informal meetings. There may be an effort to conduct "field hearings" in locations across the United States as well, as the Obama administration has been doing with its "Regional Health Forums." During this process, various experts and leaders from all sides of the issues have the opportunity to present their ideas to the Congressional committees and to the Congressional leadership.

The committees, taking this input into consideration, have begun to draft legislation, with the goal of passing this legislation out of their committees by the summer. We expect markup to happen in the committees in June, and to have a bill ready to be considered by the House and the Senate by late June or early July.

(As with other steps in the legislative process, the sequence of events may not be completely sequential: one committee may be holding hearings, another taking votes on particular provisions, while a third is re-engaging on a second set of hearings on a second set of issues.)

See All Video

Klystron 9

7-day Forecast

July 4th

Happy 4th of July from Bay News 9! From the best firework displays in town to other fun-filled festivities- there's something for everyone.
July 4th events