[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 99 (Tuesday, June 21, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H4021-H4024]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SMALL BUSINESS HEALTH CARE RELIEF ACT OF 2016
Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 5447) to provide an exception from certain group health plan
requirements for qualified small employer health reimbursement
arrangements, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 5447
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Small Business Health Care
Relief Act of 2016''.
SEC. 2. EXCEPTION FROM GROUP HEALTH PLAN REQUIREMENTS FOR
QUALIFIED SMALL EMPLOYER HEALTH REIMBURSEMENT
ARRANGEMENTS.
(a) Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.--
(1) In general.--Section 9831 of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(d) Exception for Qualified Small Employer Health
Reimbursement Arrangements.--
``(1) In general.--For purposes of this title (except as
provided in section 4980I(f)(4) and notwithstanding any other
provision of this title), the term `group health plan' shall
not include any qualified small employer health reimbursement
arrangement.
``(2) Qualified small employer health reimbursement
arrangement.--For purposes of this subsection--
``(A) In general.--The term `qualified small employer
health reimbursement arrangement' means an arrangement
which--
``(i) is described in subparagraph (B), and
``(ii) is provided on the same terms to all eligible
employees of the eligible employer.
``(B) Arrangement described.--An arrangement is described
in this subparagraph if--
``(i) such arrangement is funded solely by an eligible
employer and no salary reduction contributions may be made
under such arrangement,
``(ii) such arrangement provides, after the employee
provides proof of coverage, for the payment of, or
reimbursement of, an eligible employee for expenses for
medical care (as defined in section 213(d)) incurred by the
eligible employee or the eligible employee's family members
(as determined under the terms of the arrangement), and
``(iii) the amount of payments and reimbursements described
in clause (ii) for any year do not exceed $5,130 ($10,260 in
the case of an arrangement that also provides for payments or
reimbursements for family members of the employee).
``(C) Certain variation permitted.--For purposes of
subparagraph (A)(ii), an arrangement shall not fail to be
treated as provided on the same terms to each eligible
employee merely because the employee's permitted benefits
under such arrangement vary in accordance with the variation
in the price of an insurance policy in the relevant
individual health insurance market based on--
``(i) the age of the eligible employee (and, in the case of
an arrangement which covers medical expenses of the eligible
employee's family members, the age of such family members),
or
``(ii) the number of family members of the eligible
employee the medical expenses of which are covered under such
arrangement.
The variation permitted under the preceding sentence shall be
determined by reference to the same insurance policy with
respect to all eligible employees.
``(D) Rules relating to maximum dollar limitation.--
``(i) Amount prorated in certain cases.--In the case of an
individual who is not covered by an arrangement for the
entire year, the limitation under subparagraph (A)(iii) for
such year shall be an amount which bears the same ratio to
the amount which would (but for this clause) be in effect for
such individual for such year under subparagraph (A)(iii) as
the number of months for which such individual is covered by
the arrangement for such year bears to 12.
``(ii) Inflation adjustment.--In the case of any year
beginning after 2016, each of the dollar amounts in
subparagraph (A)(iii) shall be increased by an amount equal
to--
``(I) such dollar amount, multiplied by
``(II) the cost-of-living adjustment determined under
section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which the taxable
year begins, determined by substituting `calendar year 2015'
for `calendar year 1992' in subparagraph (B) thereof.
If any dollar amount increased under the preceding sentence
is not a multiple of $100, such dollar amount shall be
rounded to the next lowest multiple of $100.
``(3) Other definitions.--For purposes of this subsection--
``(A) Eligible employee.--The term `eligible employee'
means any employee of an eligible employer, except that the
terms of the arrangement may exclude from consideration
employees described in any clause of section 105(h)(3)(B)
(applied by substituting `90 days' for `3 years' in clause
(i) thereof).
``(B) Eligible employer.--The term `eligible employer'
means an employer that--
``(i) is not an applicable large employer as defined in
section 4980H(c)(2), and
``(ii) does not offer a group health plan to any of its
employees.
``(C) Permitted benefit.--The term `permitted benefit'
means, with respect to any eligible employee, the maximum
dollar amount of payments and reimbursements which may be
made under the terms of the qualified small employer health
reimbursement arrangement for the year with respect to such
employee.
``(4) Notice.--
``(A) In general.--An employer funding a qualified small
employer health reimbursement arrangement for any year shall,
not later than 90 days before the beginning of such year (or,
in the case of an employee who is not eligible to participate
in the arrangement as of the beginning of such year, the date
on which such employee is first so eligible), provide a
written notice to each eligible employee which includes the
information described in subparagraph (B).
``(B) Contents of notice.--The notice required under
subparagraph (A) shall include each of the following:
``(i) A statement of the amount which would be such
eligible employee's permitted benefits under the arrangement
for the year.
``(ii) A statement that the eligible employee should
provide the information described in clause (i) to any health
insurance exchange to which the employee applies for advance
payment of the premium assistance tax credit.
``(iii) A statement that if the employee is not covered
under minimum essential coverage for any month the employee
may be subject to tax under section 5000A for such month and
reimbursements under the arrangement may be includible in
gross income.''.
(2) Limitation on exclusion from gross income.--Section 106
of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement
Arrangement.--For purposes of this section and section 105,
payments or reimbursements from a qualified small employer
health reimbursement arrangement (as defined in section
9831(d)) of an individual for medical care (as defined in
section 213(d)) shall not be treated as paid or reimbursed
under employer-provided coverage for medical expenses under
an accident or health plan if for the month in which such
medical care is provided the individual does not have minimum
essential coverage (within the meaning of section
5000A(f)).''.
(3) Coordination with health insurance premium credit.--
Section 36B(c) of such Code is amended by adding at the end
the following new paragraph:
``(4) Special rules for qualified small employer health
reimbursement arrangements.--
``(A) In general.--The term `coverage month' shall not
include any month with respect to an employee (or any spouse
or dependent of such employee) if for such month the employee
is provided a qualified small employer health reimbursement
arrangement which constitutes affordable coverage.
``(B) Denial of double benefit.--In the case of any
employee who is provided a qualified small employer health
reimbursement arrangement for any coverage month (determined
without regard to subparagraph (A)), the credit otherwise
allowable under subsection (a) to the taxpayer for such month
shall be reduced (but not below zero) by the amount described
in subparagraph (C)(i)(II) for such month.
``(C) Affordable coverage.--For purposes of subparagraph
(A), a qualified small employer health reimbursement
arrangement shall be treated as constituting affordable
coverage for a month if--
``(i) the excess of--
``(I) the amount that would be paid by the employee as the
premium for such month for self-only coverage under the
second lowest cost silver plan offered in the relevant
individual health insurance market, over
``(II) \1/12\ of the employee's permitted benefit (as
defined in section 9831(d)(3)(C)) under such arrangement,
does not exceed--
``(ii) \1/12\ of 9.5 percent of the employee's household
income.
``(D) Qualified small employer health reimbursement
arrangement.--For purposes of this paragraph, the term
`qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangement'
has the meaning given such term by section 9831(d)(2).
``(E) Coverage for less than entire year.--In the case of
an employee who is provided a qualified small employer health
reimbursement arrangement for less than an entire year,
subparagraph (C)(i)(II) shall be applied by substituting `the
number of months during the year for which such arrangement
was provided' for `12'.
``(F) Indexing.--In the case of plan years beginning in any
calendar year after 2014, the Secretary shall adjust the 9.5
percent amount under subparagraph (C)(ii) in the same manner
as the percentages are adjusted under subsection
(b)(3)(A)(ii).''.
(4) Application of excise tax on high cost employer-
sponsored health coverage.--
(A) In general.--Section 4980I(f)(4) of such Code is
amended by adding at the end the following: ``Section
9831(d)(1) shall not apply for purposes of this section.''.
(B) Determination of cost of coverage.--Section 4980I(d)(2)
of such Code is amended by
[[Page H4022]]
redesignating subparagraph (D) as subparagraph (E) and by
inserting after subparagraph (C) the following new
subparagraph:
``(D) Qualified small employer health reimbursement
arrangements.--In the case of applicable employer-sponsored
coverage consisting of coverage under any qualified small
employer health reimbursement arrangement (as defined in
section 9831(d)(2)), the cost of coverage shall be equal to
the amount described in section 6051(a)(15).''.
(5) Enforcement of notice requirement.--Section 6652 of
such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(o) Failure To Provide Notices With Respect To Qualified
Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangements.--In the
case of each failure to provide a written notice as required
by section 9831(d)(4), unless it is shown that such failure
is due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect, there
shall be paid, on notice and demand of the Secretary and in
the same manner as tax, by the person failing to provide such
written notice, an amount equal to $50 per employee per
incident of failure to provide such notice, but the total
amount imposed on such person for all such failures during
any calendar year shall not exceed $2,500.''.
(6) Reporting.--
(A) W-2 reporting.--Section 6051(a) of such Code is amended
by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (13), by striking
the period at the end of paragraph (14) and inserting ``,
and'', and by inserting after paragraph (14) the following
new paragraph:
``(15) the total amount of permitted benefit (as defined in
section 9831(d)(3)(C)) for the year under a qualified small
employer health reimbursement arrangement (as defined in
section 9831(d)(2)) with respect to the employee.''.
(B) Information required to be provided by exchange subsidy
applicants.--Section 1411(b)(3) of the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act is amended by redesignating subparagraph
(B) as subparagraph (C) and by inserting after subparagraph
(A) the following new subparagraph:
``(B) Certain individual health insurance policies obtained
through small employers.--The amount of the enrollee's
permitted benefit (as defined in section 9831(d)(3)(C) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986) under a qualified small
employer health reimbursement arrangement (as defined in
section 9831(d)(2) of such Code).''.
(7) Effective dates.--
(A) In general.--Except as otherwise provided in this
paragraph, the amendments made by this subsection shall apply
to years beginning after the earlier of--
(i) the date that is 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, or
(ii) December 31, 2016.
(B) Transition relief.--The relief under Treasury Notice
2015-17 shall be treated as applying to any plan year
beginning on or before the date described in subparagraph
(A).
(C) Coordination with health insurance premium credit.--The
amendments made by paragraph (3) shall apply to taxable years
beginning after the date described in subparagraph (A).
(D) Employee notice.--The amendments made by paragraph (5)
shall apply to notices with respect to years beginning after
the date described in subparagraph (A).
(E) W-2 reporting.--The amendments made by paragraph (6)(A)
shall apply to calendar years beginning after December 31,
2016.
(F) Information provided by exchange subsidy applicants.--
(i) In general.--The amendments made by paragraph (6)(B)
shall apply to applications for enrollment made after the
date described in subparagraph (A).
(ii) Verification.--Verification under section 1411 of the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of information
provided under section 1411(b)(3)(B) of such Act shall apply
with respect to months beginning after October 2016.
(8) Substantiation requirements.--The Secretary of the
Treasury (or his designee) may issue substantiation
requirements as necessary to carry out this subsection.
(b) Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974.--
(1) In general.--Section 733(a)(1) of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C.
1191b(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Such term shall not include any qualified small employer
health reimbursement arrangement (as defined in section
9831(d)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986).''.
(2) Exception from continuation coverage requirements,
etc.--Section 607(1) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1167(1)) is
amended by adding at the end the following: ``Such term shall
not include any qualified small employer health reimbursement
arrangement (as defined in section 9831(d)(2) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986).''.
(3) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection
shall apply to plan years beginning after the date described
in subsection (a)(7)(A).
(c) Amendments to the Public Health Service Act.--
(1) In general.--Section 2791(a)(1) of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg-91(a)(1)) is amended by adding
at the end the following: ``Except for purposes of part C of
title XI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320d et
seq.), such term shall not include any qualified small
employer health reimbursement arrangement (as defined in
section 9831(d)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986).''.
(2) Exception from continuation coverage requirements.--
Section 2208(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
300bb-8(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Such term shall not include any qualified small employer
health reimbursement arrangement (as defined in section
9831(d)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986).''.
(3) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection
shall apply to plan years beginning after the date described
in subsection (a)(7)(A).
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Holding). Pursuant to the rule, the
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany) and the gentleman from Michigan
(Mr. Levin) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Louisiana.
General Leave
Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 5447, currently under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Louisiana?
There was no objection.
Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am privileged to stand here before you to offer this
bill.
This is a very important bill, H.R. 5447, the Small Business Health
Care Relief Act. It is bipartisan legislation that has been more than 2
years in the making.
Mr. Speaker, as a small-business owner and a heart surgeon, I
understand how important coverage is to get good, high-quality health
care. But I also understand, from the standpoint of being a small-
business owner, how difficult it often is and how expensive it has
become to provide this kind of coverage for employees.
In 2013, Treasury issued regulatory guidance indicating that any
employer offering health reimbursement accounts, also known as HRAs,
was in violation of the Affordable Care Act group health plan
requirements, irrespective of the size of the employer. The very
smallest of small businesses were affected by this, businesses that
were trying to help their employees, doing the very best they can to
help their employees have coverage.
Furthermore, Treasury's guidance included an astronomically high
penalty fine assessed on employers offering these HRAs: $100 per day
per employee, with the potential of accruing a $36,500 fine per year
per employee. This is just draconian treatment for small business.
In my home State of Louisiana, small businesses--those with 50 or
fewer employees--account for 72 percent of all businesses in Louisiana.
Yet only about 30 percent of those small businesses offer a specific
group health plan, often citing the full cost of group health plans as
the reason for offering nothing. I am sure this is the case all around
the country.
We have to help small businesses and their employees afford good
coverage.
Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful to my colleague from California, Mike
Thompson, for working with me on this bill to give small-business
owners an opportunity to financially assist their employees with their
health costs.
This legislation will be critical to ensuring that small businesses
in Louisiana and around the country have an option that allows them to
help their employees afford health coverage and costs. When 65 percent
of those in Louisiana who are currently uninsured, indeed, have a full-
time worker in their household and nearly three-quarters of all
employers in Louisiana are small businesses, it is clear we can do
better. This is something that will actually help these small-business
owners and their employees get affordable coverage.
Mr. Speaker, the government must not penalize small-business owners
for doing the right thing and trying to help employees with the high
cost of healthcare coverage, so I urge swift passage of this
legislation to empower our small-business owners.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1815
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
One of the reforms in the Affordable Care Act banned employer-
sponsored health plans from placing annual dollar limits on benefits
paid by the plan to a beneficiary. This is good policy, as, for
example, we don't want patients with
[[Page H4023]]
cancer finding out their insurance company only pays a set amount for
their treatment and no more. But it has had the unintended effect of
prohibiting stand-alone Health Reimbursement Arrangements because they
are employer-sponsored health plans under which benefits are limited to
a specified dollar amount.
HRAs are typically used by beneficiaries for out-of-pocket medical
expenses such as meeting an insurance plan's annual deductible or co-
pays for doctor and other medical provider visits. HRAs can also be
used to pay for premiums for health insurance coverage.
The bill before us would permit small employers to offer stand-alone
HRAs to their employees, referred to as ``qualified small employer
HRA.'' This bill would also permit the use of the qualified small
employer HRAs to purchase coverage in the ACA's public marketplaces.
I am pleased to see my Republican colleagues recognizing the benefit
of the ACA marketplaces and coverage they offer to millions of
Americans. This bill is yet another important way to support the ACA,
ensuring more Americans have the health coverage and flexibility they
need through the marketplaces. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to
support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time, and I ask unanimous
consent that the balance of my time be controlled by the gentleman from
California (Mr. Thompson), one of the sponsors of this bill, and a
distinguished member of our committee.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Michigan?
There was no objection.
Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe), who is the chairman of the
Physicians Caucus.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the
Small Business Health Care Relief Act.
I want to thank my colleagues, Dr. Boustany and Representative
Thompson, for their leadership on this important issue. It is not very
often that we have bipartisan legislation that will make a real
difference in lowering healthcare costs for working families, and I am
pleased to see this bill come to the House floor today.
This legislation is a no-brainer. As a physician with more than 30
years of experience, I have personally seen the need for commonsense
reforms that will remove barriers to lower healthcare costs and give
Americans more control over their own healthcare decisions.
Because of the Affordable Care Act, I constantly hear from families
who are paying higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs for less
coverage and lower quality of care. I hear from small-business owners
who desperately want to help their employees acquire health insurance,
but face costly regulations that make it harder, if not impossible, for
them to do so.
Employers of all sizes are implementing innovative solutions to
address the rising healthcare costs, and we should do everything we can
to support those efforts. Unfortunately, misguided Federal rules too
often stand in the way.
Regulatory guidance issued by the IRS that penalizes small businesses
who offer stand-alone Health Reimbursement Arrangements is a perfect
example. HRAs are popular among both workers and employers. Employers
offer HRAs to help their employees pay for health care. In return,
families are provided greater flexibility and an opportunity to set
aside pre-tax income for medical expenses.
It simply doesn't make sense for the Federal Government to restrict a
positive tool aimed at expanding access to affordable healthcare
coverage. It is unconscionable that ObamaCare is penalizing small
businesses for trying to do the right thing and alleviate the financial
burden on working families.
That is why this bill is so important. We need to encourage policies
that empower every American with affordable coverage, provide more
choice, and promote a healthy workforce. And I hope we can all agree
that we should eliminate misguided rules that only make it harder for
families and small businesses to obtain healthcare coverage they
desperately need.
I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation which
will restore the ability of small businesses to offer HRAs.
Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as
I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Small Business Health Care
Relief Act, and I want to thank Dr. Boustany for working with me on
this bill. As he pointed out, it is an important bill. It will help a
lot of people, businessowners, workers, and families.
The bill that we are considering today is the result of more than a
year's worth of close collaboration between stakeholders and
policymakers. It is bicameral, it is bipartisan, and it is supported by
dozens of small businesses and small-business organizations across the
country.
Our Small Business Health Care Relief Act would allow small
businesses with fewer than 50 employees, those companies that are not
required to provide health care, to offer tax preferred Health
Reimbursement Arrangements or HRAs. The HRAs can be used to buy health
insurance in the individual market, or pay for qualified health
expenses if an individual already has coverage.
Historically, small businesses offered these funds to employees in
lieu of group health plans. Most of these companies don't have the
capacity to offer employer-sponsored coverage, so the HRAs served as
health benefits for their workers.
But right now, businesses are subject to this $100 per person per day
fine that was mentioned earlier just for offering this help to their
employees. This legislation clarifies that an HRA isn't a group health
plan, but a means for helping individuals purchase a health plan for
health services.
There is no requirement, as I mentioned, for small companies of 50 or
fewer people to provide health insurance. These employers don't offer
health benefits because they have to, they do it to support their
workforce. We shouldn't be penalizing responsible businessowners who
are going above and beyond for their employees.
Instead, we should arm small businesses with the tools that help them
recruit great workers and put them on a level playing field with their
larger competitors. And we should help to make sure that quality,
comprehensive coverage is affordable for folks who don't have access to
subsidies or employer-sponsored health care. This bill does all of
that.
Small businesses drive job creation. They grow our economy. We should
be going out of our way to help them support their employees and focus
on what they do best, running their business.
And as was mentioned by our ranking member earlier, this is a prime
example of how we should be conducting business in this House. We
should be working across the aisle in a bipartisan measure. We should
be building on the positive aspects of the Affordable Care Act, and
this is an example of doing just that.
Again, Dr. Boustany, thank you for your cooperation and your help and
your good work on this.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Again, I want to thank my colleague, Mike Thompson from California,
for his collaboration. I want to thank the Ways and Means staff for
working with us to get this legislation done, working with the
stakeholders.
I also want to single out some of our staffers who really worked very
hard on this: Melissa Gierach, Casey Badmington, and Lakecia Foster.
Without their help, we could not have gotten all this put together and
seen this legislation through, so I am deeply grateful for their
efforts as well.
Mr. Speaker, this is a commonsense change that will expand options,
it will increase portability, it will protect small businesses, and it
will end these harsh penalties that small businesses were encountering
as they were trying to do the right thing. So I urge my colleagues to
join me and support H.R. 5447.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following letters for
the Record relating to H.R. 5447.
[[Page H4024]]
House of Representatives,
Committee on Energy and Commerce,
Washington, DC, June 13, 2016.
Hon. Kevin Brady,
Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Brady: I write in regard to H.R. 5447, to
provide an exception from certain group health plan
requirements for qualified small employer health
reimbursement arrangements, which was referred in addition to
the Committee on Energy and Commerce. I wanted to notify you
that the Committee will forgo action on H.R. 5447 so that it
may proceed expeditiously to the House floor for
consideration.
This is done with the understanding that the Committee on
Energy and Commerce's jurisdictional interests over this and
similar legislation are in no way diminished or altered. In
addition, the Committee reserves the right to seek conferees
on H.R. 5447 and requests your support when such a request is
made.
I would appreciate your response confirming this
understanding with respect to H.R. 5447 and ask that a copy
of our exchange of letters on this matter be included in the
Congressional Record during consideration of the bill on the
House floor.
Sincerely,
Fred Upton,
Chairman.
____
House of Representatives,
Committee on Ways and Means,
Washington, DC, June 13, 2016.
Dear Chairman Upton: Thank you for your letter regarding
H.R. 5447, to provide an exception from certain group health
plan requirements for qualified small employer health
reimbursement arrangements. As you noted, the Committee on
Energy and Commerce was granted an additional referral of the
bill.
I am most appreciative of your decision to waive formal
consideration of H.R. 5447 so that it may proceed
expeditiously to the House floor. I acknowledge that although
you waived formal consideration of the bill, the Committee on
Energy and Commerce is in no way waiving its jurisdiction
over the subject matter contained in those provisions of the
bill that fall within your Rule X jurisdiction. I would
support your effort to seek appointment of an appropriate
number of conferees on any House-Senate conference involving
this legislation.
I will include a copy of our letters in the Congressional
Record during consideration of this legislation on the House
floor.
Sincerely,
Kevin Brady,
Chairman.
____
House of Representatives, Committee on Education and the
Workforce,
Washington, DC, June 21, 2016.
Hon. Kevin Brady,
Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means, House of
Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing to confirm our mutual
understanding with respect to H.R. 5447, the Small Business
Heath Care Relief Act. Thank you for consulting with the
Committee on Education and the Workforce with regard to H.R.
5447 on those matters within the Committee's jurisdiction.
In the interest of expediting the House's consideration of
H.R. 5447, the Committee on Education and the Workforce will
forgo further consideration of this bill. However, I do so
only with the understanding this procedural route will not be
construed to prejudice my Committee's jurisdictional interest
and prerogatives on this bill or any other similar
legislation and will not be considered as precedent for
consideration of matters of jurisdictional interest to my
Committee in the future. Additionally, I appreciate your
committee's assistance with any additional improvements to
the bill within the jurisdiction of the Education and the
Workforce Committee.
I respectfully request your support for the appointment of
outside conferees from the Committee on Education and the
Workforce should this bill or a similar bill be considered in
a conference with the Senate. I also request you include our
exchange of letters on this matter in the Committee Report on
H.R. 5447 and in the Congressional Record during
consideration of this bill on the House Floor. Thank you for
your attention to these matters.
Sincerely,
John Kline,
Chairman.
____
House of Representatives,
Committee on Ways and Means,
Washington, DC, June 21, 2016.
Hon. John Kline,
Chairman, Committee on Education and the Workforce,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Kline: Thank you for your letter regarding
H.R. 5447, the ``Small Business Health Care Relief Act.'' As
you noted, the Committee on Education and the Workforce was
granted an additional referral of the bill.
I am most appreciative of your decision to waive formal
consideration of H.R. 5447 so that it may proceed
expeditiously to the House floor. I acknowledge that although
you waived formal consideration of the bill, the Committee on
Education and the Workforce is in no way waiving its
jurisdiction over the subject matter contained in those
provisions of the bill that fall within your Rule X
jurisdiction. I would support your effort to seek appointment
of an appropriate number of conferees on any House-Senate
conference involving this legislation.
I will include a copy of our letters in the Congressional
Record during consideration of this legislation on the House
floor.
Sincerely,
Kevin Brady,
Chairman.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5447, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________