In the House, Republicans will have no problem finding a simple majority to pass legislation that would delay the individual mandate needed to fund the president’s health care reforms.
The GOP spent the last three years voting to repeal Obamacare only to have all of those efforts killed in the Democratically led Senate. But Republicans believe their latest effort has new momentum now that Obama has decided to delay another provision of the law, the employer mandate requiring companies with more than 50 employees to provide health insurance.
The “Fairness for American Families Act,” scheduled for a Wednesday vote, would change the date of implementation of the individual mandate from Dec. 31, 2013, to the same day in 2014.
The mandate requires everyone to either buy health insurance or pay a penalty.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the Obama administration’s decision to delay only the employer mandate is “unfair and indefensible.”
The legislation may never get consideration in the Senate, but it will put political pressure on Democrats in both chambers who fear that opposing the bill will make it appear as if they are providing a break to big business but not individuals.
Even though Obama has already announced a delay of the employer mandate based on his own authority. But the House insists that such a crucial change requires congressional approval and lawmakers will take up the “Authority for Mandate Delay Act” that would allow them to vote on whether to authorize an action the president has already authorized.
The bill’s author, Rep. Tim Griffin, R-Ark., said the legislation is required because “only Congress can change the law.”
Source: The Examiner
