Long-term-care
insurance: Voting 267 for and 159 against, the House on Feb. 1 sent the Senate a bill to repeal the 2010 health law's section on long-term-care insurance. The program already had been shelved by the administration on the grounds it would not pay for itself, as the law requires. This bill (HR1173) would repeal the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program, under which healthy workers would buy affordable insurance over their careers to finance the high cost of long-term care when they become aged and possibly disabled. The objective is to keep the elderly in their homes on a self-sustaining basis and off support programs such as Medicaid. Over a third of Medicaid spending goes for long-term care, a share expected to rise markedly as baby boomers grow old. contract disabling diseases, run out of money to pay health bills and turn to Medicaid. A yes vote was to repeal the CLASS Act.
North Dakota: Rick Berg-R voted yes.
South Dakota: Kristi Noem-R voted yes.
Long-term care,
medicaid: Voting 164 for and 260 against, the House on Feb. 1 defeated an amendment to HR1173 (above) to retain the CLASS Act until government auditors certify that its repeal would not raise state and federal Medicaid costs. A yes vote backed the amendment.
North Dakota: Berg-R voted no.
South Dakota: Noem-R voted no.
Washington pay freeze: Voting 309 for and 117 against, the House on Feb. 1 sent the Senate a bill (HR3835) to continue through 2013 existing pay freezes for members of Congress, congressional staff and federal civil servants. The bill would deny federal workers a cost-of-living adjustment for the third straight year while freezing pay on Capitol Hill for the fifth straight year. Rank-and-file members of Congress have received $174,000 annually since January 2009. President Obama has requested a half-percent COLA this year for the federal work force. A yes vote was to pass the bill.
North Dakota: Berg-R voted yes.
South Dakota: Noem-R voted yes.
Federal aviation
budget: Voting 248 for and 169 against, the House on Feb. 2 sent the Senate a bill (HR658) to authorize federal aviation programs through Sept. 30, 2015, at a cost of $63.3 billion, including $13.4 billion for airport improvements and tens of billions of dollars for Federal Aviation Administration programs and administrative costs. The bill continues the Essential Air Service program that subsidizes commercial service to smaller cities, releases hundreds of millions of dollars annually from the Aviation Trust Fund to finance the ''Next-Gen'' modernization of the air-traffic-control system and raises the threshold air and rail workers must meet to conduct elections on unionizing. The bill uses a combination of appropriations and user fees, such as fuel and passenger-ticket taxes, to fund the U.S. aviation system. A yes vote was to pass the bill.
North Dakota: Berg-R voted yes.
South Dakota: Noem-R voted yes.
Senate - ending Feb. 3
Lawmakers' insider trading: Voting 96 for and three against, the Senate on Feb. 2 passed a bill (S2038) barring members of Congress and congressional staff from using confidential information obtained in their legislative work in personal financial transactions such as stock trading. The bill requires lawmakers, their top aides and tens or hundreds of thousands of executive-branch officials to disclose within 30 days all trading in stocks and other securities, with the information posted online for public review. Additionally, the bill upgrades the system by which members make annual disclosures of their personal finances, switching from paper to electronic filing and requiring the data to be posted online. A yes vote was to pass the bill.
North Dakota: Kent Conrad-D voted yes. John Hoeven-R voted yes.
South Dakota: Tim Johnson-D voted yes. John Thune-R voted yes.
Ban on individual stocks: Voting 26 for and 73 against, the Senate on Feb. 2 refused to prohibit members of Congress from owning individual stocks other than those held in blind trusts. Lawmakers could still buy securities through broad-based instruments such as mutual funds. This amendment to S2038 (above) sought to hold federal lawmakers to the same conflict-of-interest rules, with respect to stock holdings, that they have imposed on senior committee staff and which executive-branch regulators and policy-makers also must follow. A yes vote backed the amendment.
North Dakota: Conrad-D voted no. Hoeven-R voted no.
South Dakota: Johnson-D voted no. Thune-R voted no.
Congressional term limits: Voting 24 for and 75 against, the Senate on Feb. 2 defeated a non-binding amendment to S2038 (above) urging Congress to send the states a constitutional amendment setting term limits for House members and senators. The amendment did not propose specific limits. A yes vote endorsed term limits for members of Congress.
North Dakota: Conrad-D voted no. Hoeven-R voted no.
South Dakota: Johnson-D voted no. Thune-R voted yes.
