Legislative text was released last night for the Senate health reform bill, called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Here’s the direct link to the PDF of the Senate bill:
http://democrats.senate.gov/reform/patient-protection-affordable-care-act.pdf
The breastfeeding provision is on page 1239, in SEC. 4207. REASONABLE BREAK TIME FOR NURSING MOTHERS. States with existing workplace legislation will be pleased to see that they’ve added a preemption clause.
We are in close contact with Senator Merkley’s office and our member and partner organizations about aligning support strategies.
KEY UPDATE ON STRATEGY:
During this next stage where the bill is debated on Senate floor, we are going to LAY LOW. We are hesitant to draw attention to it at this point, because too MUCH attention could backfire and cause the BF provision to become a target for removal or amendment. If it were to be targeted we will of course be ready to immediately mobilize in support, but everyone thinks this is unlikely.
Again, we are preparing the big effort for when it goes to Conference Committee. The Conference Committee members will not be selected until after the Senate approves a bill, which could be some time yet.
Additional tidbit of good news: The provision in the Senate health reform bill is a tad stronger than it was in the BF Promotion Act. In health reform bill it says “an employer shall provide” instead of the weaker “shall make reasonable efforts to provide a place”…
For anyone that might want a refresher on the details of Government 101, here’s a quick guide to help us understand the current status of health reform:
- The House has already passed their version of health reform. The BF provision was NOT in the House version.
- Now the Senate needs to pass their version. The language was released last night, and they will first debate it on the “Senate floor”, and amendments will be made to this draft before they pass it. The BF provision IS in the Senate version.
- After Senate passes their version, then a Conference Committee of members from both houses of Congress will be formed. They will need to merge the Senate and House versions into one. This is the point where our action will be needed: since the BF provision is in Senate version but not House version, we’ll need to advocate for it to be kept in the compromise bill.
Here’s a good link with more detail on each step of the process: http://www.votesmart.org/resource_govt101_02.php
Best,
Megan E. Renner
Executive Director
United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC)
2025 M Street, NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 367-1132
Direct/Cell: (301) 807-4963
Fax: (202) 367-2132
Subscribe to RSS