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Minnesota delegation split on health care bill
Firmly in favor: McCollum and Walz; may vote "yes": Oberstar and Ellison; solid "nos": Peterson and the GOPs.
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WASHINGTON - Leaders in the U.S. House are racing to gather at least 218 votes to pass an overhaul of the health care system. But as zero hour approaches, not all of Minnesota's Democrats are on board.
With a vote tentatively scheduled for this weekend, House Democratic leaders struggled Friday to find the votes they need, while GOP leaders boasted that all 177 House Republicans stood ready to oppose the $1.2 trillion bill, which would create a federally supervised insurance marketplace where the uninsured could purchase coverage.
Only two of five Minnesota House Democrats -- Reps. Betty McCollum and Tim Walz -- are firm "yes" votes on the 2,000 page bill. Walz, who had remained publicly uncommitted, didn't announce his support until Friday evening.
Reps. Keith Ellison and Jim Oberstar are holding their cards close to the vest until the last minute, while the state's most conservative Democrat, Collin Peterson, has come out solidly against the measure.
The problem congressional leaders have had lining up Minnesota Democrats reflects the larger struggle across the party to rally behind one piece of legislation. Although Ellison and Oberstar are likely to vote yes, remaining uncommitted has allowed them to gain the ear of party leaders.
"It can be a smart strategy for members to hold out until the last minute to support their party's legislation because they might be able to extract something from this," said Kathryn Pearson, political science professor at the University of Minnesota.
Ellison, one of Minnesota's most liberal representatives, said he is aware that "this is a historic moment. This moment that we're in now is equal to passing the Civil Rights bill of 1964 or Medicare of 1965."
But Ellison also wants to see leaders include a public option that would extend Medicare to those younger than 65 and that would boost reimbursement rates by 5 percent.
"After my careful review of this bill, if [the public option] is not adequately robust enough to offer real and legitimate competition and choice and access to the private insurance products that would be offered on the exchange, then I would vote no," Ellison said. "But that is exactly what I'm going over right now."
Ellison said he would be more likely to vote no if the final bill includes a trigger on the public option, meaning it would kick in only if insurance companies failed to meet certain benchmarks.
Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar, a longtime supporter of single-payer health care, is also still reviewing the legislation and "making sure that it's something that he can support," said spokesman John Schadl.
An opponent of abortion rights, Oberstar is primarily concerned that the bill might allow public funding of abortions and also wants to ensure that it addresses long-standing disparities that produce lower Medicare reimbursement rates for Minnesota than for some states. "He hasn't shared any type of timeframe with me," Schadl said of Oberstar's final decision. "Obviously when it's time to vote, he'll vote."
Among the Minnesota delegation's Democrats, Peterson is the only confirmed 'no' vote. All three of Minnesota's Republicans plan to oppose the bill. Peterson, who chairs the Agriculture Committee, said the bill doesn't do enough to fix Medicare disparities or control costs.
"I mean, if this bill became law, either the system would collapse or you would create the biggest tax increase that we've ever seen in history," he said. "That's what would happen."
He said he does not think that the House bill that is moving toward a floor vote is fixable at this point, "given what I know about the power forces here."
Eric Roper • 202-408-2723
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