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Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Lawsuit Filed Over Budget Reconciliation Bill
Public Citizen has filed a federal lawsuit regarding the constitutionality of the budget reconciliation bill. They are seeking to overturn the bill, which was signed into law on Feb. 8 by President Bush, on the grounds that it is unconstitutional because a clerical error resulted in a different version of the bill being signed than what was actually passed. It is possible the courts could rule that the act violates the Constitution -- specifically the bicameral clause -- which requires both chambers to pass identical legislation before it can become law. In a conference call with reporters yesterday, Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook stated, "We haven’t found any other legislation that violated the Constitution like this or we would have challenged it."
This is the second lawsuit being brought against the legislation. The first was brought by Conservative Alabama attorney Jim Ziegler, whose suit cited the same issue. Additionally, House Democrats called for an ethics investigation and for the House to vote again on the original legislation.
The clause in question is over portion of the legislation limiting rentals of durable medical equipment other than oxygen equipment to 36 months. The measure passed by the Senate December 21 limited rentals to 13 months, while the version the President signed limited it to 36 months. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the cost difference between a 13-month limit and a 36-month limit on the medical equipment to be $2 billion over five years.
The Emergency Campaign for America's Priorities (ECAP) has issued a statement relating to this bill. It appears that Speaker Hastert's (R-IL) office knew of the discrepancies between the two bills and even went so far as to ask
"the administration to delay proceedings until the problem could be addressed by the House and Senate." [WSJ, 3/22/06] ECAP spokeswoman Cara Morris Stern stated:
It is shocking that in their fervor to cut vital programs for needy Americans, the President and White House staff ignored warnings from Speaker Hastert’s office that the bill did not pass even the most basic of constitutional guidelines, the Presentment Clause. The President ignored his responsibility to uphold the Constitution of the United States which requires a bill be passed in identical form by both the House and Senate.
Washington Post: Spending Measure Not A Law, Suit Says
Posted by Becky Lewis
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