NewsFlash! House Passes Budget Reconciliation Bill
Posted Nov 18, 2005, 4:36pm; updated 11:30pm ET
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On the morning of November 18, 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives (House) passed its version of the Budget Reconciliation Bill by a narrow margin. The House then voted to replace the text of the Senate bill with the text of the House bill and passed the Senate bill as well.
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Since the House and Senate have passed different versions of the Senate bill on budget reconciliation, both Houses of Congress must agree on uniform language before a final bill can be sent to the President for his signature. Therefore, we expect that the House and Senate will have a conference committee to agree on language for the final bill to contain identical provisions. It is not clear what immigration-related provisions, if any, will survive the conference committee.
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Despite the holiday season when lawmakers generally recess, it is important to have budget reconciliation. Therefore, it is likely, though not guaranteed, that the conference committee will convene in the next few weeks to being their important work on this bill. Once the committee has agreed on the final provisions in the Bill, the final version will need to be approved by the House and Senate before it goes to the President for signature to become law. [See our August 2, 2002 MurthyDotCom article on The Legislative Process – How a Bill Becomes a Law.]
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We at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy will continue to monitor this issue, of interest to many, and will share information with our readers on MurthyDotCom as and when it becomes available.