LOS ANGELES (CNS) – The Senate is scheduled Monday to continue considering legislation to end the government shutdown following former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa criticizing the seven Democratic senators who voted to advance the agreement.
The agreement combines three full-year funding measures into one package with a stopgap funding bill that would reopen the government through Jan. 30.
However, the agreement does not fund the health care subsidies known as the enhanced premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act, which are the main subsidies at the heart of the current U.S. Senate budget battle, that led to the government shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, committed to holding a separate vote by the second week of December, after the government reopens, on legislation to extend the subsidies for health care insurance offered through HealthCare.gov and state-run marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act.
The cost of those policies have risen since open enrollment started Nov. 1 because the subsidies passed during the COVID-19 pandemic will expire at the end of the year.
“Healthcare costs are skyrocketing because Republicans chose their billionaire donors over middle-class Americans — and now, after a 40-day gov shutdown, some Senate Democrats are willing to cave on a “deal” that has no concessions on healthcare costs,” Villaraigosa, a Democrat running for governor, wrote on social media Sunday.
“We all deserve better.”
Another Democratic gubernatorial candidate, former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter, was also critical of the Democratic defections.
“Democrats need to use our power, just like we did on Election Day last week, to deliver for Americans,” Porter wrote on social media Sunday. “With Californians set to see their health care premiums double next year, we’d be naive to give in and take Republicans at their word. This deal falls short.”
The agreement to end the Democratic-led filibuster on the government funding bill passed by a 60-40 vote, exactly the three-fifths majority needed.
Both California senators, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, voted no, as did Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York.
“That funding bill has nothing in it to help people afford their health insurance,” Schiff shared on social media. “That bill has nothing in it that’s going to bring costs down. That bill has nothing in it that’s going to make sure that people with preexisting conditions can afford their health insurance.
“We owe our constituents better than this.”
Democratic senators voting yes were Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada; Dick Durbin, D-Illinois; John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania; Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire; Tim Kaine, D-Virginia; Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada, and Jeanne Shaheen, D- New Hampshire.
Sen. Angus King, the Maine independent who caucuses with the Democrats, also voted yes. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, was the lone Republican to vote no.
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