22 January 2018 House sends February 8 CR to President to reopen government The House on January 22, 2018, approved a Senate-passed continuing resolution (CR) to extend government funding through February 8, sending the bill to President Trump to sign and reopen the government. The vote on the CR, which will also extend the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years and delay three health-related tax provisions imposed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), was 266-150. The CR sent to the President simply changed the date of the government funding expiration from the version approved by the House last week, from February 16 to February 8. The Senate's failure to advance the previous version on Friday night, amid a dispute over addressing immigration policy in conjunction with the funding measure, shut down the government. A breakthrough came today, the third day of the shutdown, as Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he would vote to reopen the government given assurances from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that, if an agreement regarding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is not reached by February 8, the Senate will immediately proceed to legislation on the issue. With regard to ACA taxes, the CR would: (1) extend for two years the moratorium on the 2.3% excise tax imposed on the sale of medical devices (through 2019), retroactive from December 31, 2017; (2) delay implementation of the excise tax on high-cost employer health coverage (the "Cadillac" tax) for an additional two years, until 2022; and (3) provide for a one-year moratorium on the annual excise tax imposed on health insurers for calendar year 2019.
Document ID: 2018-0155 | |||||