Marlene's View from the Hill

October 20, 2009
A Bountiful October

Earlier this month my week started off in the hills of upstate New York, attending the AH&LA Resort Committee meeting at the picturesque Otesaga Resort in Cooperstown, New York.  It was a perfect place to hold the 72nd annual meeting of this AH&LA committee, since this historic hotel was celebrating its 100th anniversary.  I was there to give the committee members an update of our work on the Hill on their behalf and to reconnect with many wonderful friends.   I was able to hear first-hand accounts of how their properties and communities were impacted by negative statements made about meetings earlier this year. 

Arriving back in Washington, I was alerted that one of our top priorities, the Travel Promotion Act (TPA), was heading for a quick vote in the House.  The Senate version of the bill that was sent to the House ran into a parliamentary dispute, so House TPA supporters, including Speaker Pelosi herself, sought another bill that would maneuver around all the potential roadblocks and get a bill to the House floor for a vote.   A bill was found—H.R. 1035—so the vote was on. 

My staff stayed in touch with House TPA supporters, finding out about the level of support for the bill and when it would be up for a vote.  The bill needed two-thirds of the House to vote for it—that’s 287 votes—since it was brought up under a special House rule that allowed H.R. 1035 to bypass the committee process.  At around 6:00 p.m. on October 7, the House finally voted on the bill and I was thrilled to see it pass 358-66.  You can see how your Representative voted on the House Clerk’s vote tally Webpage. 

The bill now goes back for another Senate vote, which will hopefully happen before the Senate takes up debate on their massive healthcare reform bill this fall.  As for that legislation, the Senate Finance Committee is voted on party lines—with one notable exception—to approve on October 13 the Democrat’s $829 billion version of the legislation  Maine’s Senator Olympia Snowe was the only Republican to vote with the Democrats, which I know was a very tough vote for her.  

AH&LA is examining what the next step will be on Congress’s many healthcare proposals as these bills continue to be finalized and head for a final Senate vote sometime in the next few months.  We’ve signed onto a number of letters authored by business coalitions, but so much of the healthcare debate continues to unfold behind the scenes.  We keep members updated on the latest healthcare legislation through a weekly conference call hosted by Kevin Maher, AH&LA’s senior vice president and our healthcare policy expert.