Senate Schedule for Health care Reform

• 5:00 today, Senator Majority Leader Reid is releasing the Dem HCR bill to the Dem caucus.
o CBO numbers and bill text will be made available then. Initial rumors are they are $15B short and looking to PhRMA to make up the difference.
o Reid will file for cloture on the motion to proceed on HCR. The motion will be filed on the shell/vehicle which will not be the House HCR bill. Instead, it will be a revenue bill that was generated in the House. That means, they may not even address the House bill.
• If cloture is invoked, debate on the motion is limited to 30 hours.
• Once the cloture motion is adopted and they are on the bill, Reid would offer his substitute.
• 48-50 hours to read the bill. It would take consent to dispense with the reading and Republicans are prepared to stay and switch their Senators on and off the floor to protect against the Democrats calling off the reading of the bill.