Recent House Votes:
Review Federal Regulations for Repeals – With a vote of 254-174 and 14 not voting, the House passed a bill that establishes a nine-member commission to review federal regulations and identify those that should be repealed in order to reduce costs on the U.S. economy – including those that should be immediately repealed and those that should be repealed over time through a new regulatory “Cut-Go” system under which agencies could not issue new rules unless the cost of a new rule was offset by repealing existing rules identified by the commission, Rep. Gwen Graham voted no. Rep. Ted Yoho voted yes.
Class-Action Litigation – With a vote of 211-188, one present and 33 not voting, the House passed a bill that prohibits federal courts from certifying proposed classes of individuals for a class action lawsuit unless each member of the class has suffered from the same type and degree of injury and it requires quarterly reports by asbestos trusts of claims made against the trusts and any payouts made by the trusts for asbestos-related injuries. Rep. Gwen Graham voted no. Rep. Ted Yoho voted yes.
Health Care Repeal Reconciliation – With a 240-181 and 13 not voting, the House concurred in the Senate amendment to the original House bill. The final version repeals or significantly modifies numerous major provisions of the 2010 health care overhaul law, including the individual and employer mandates, tax subsidies for individuals to purchase health insurance from exchanges and the expansion of Medicaid and the Prevention and Public Health Fund. It also effectively eliminates more than a dozen taxes included in the law, including the medical device tax, the “Cadillac” tax on high-cost health plans, the net investment tax and the additional Medicaid tax; it also blocks federal funding for Planned Parenthood for one year and provides alternative women's health funding for community health centers. Rep. Gwen Graham voted no. Rep. Ted Yoho voted yes.
Delay Mountaintop Mining Valley fill rules – With a vote of 235-188 and 10 not voting, the House passed a bill that prevents the Interior Department’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) from issuing any final rules related to coal mining activities near streams, including updating a stream buffer zones (SBZ) rule, until after the National Academy of Sciences submits a study on the effectiveness of existing rules in effect – effectively delaying any new or revised SBZ rules for at least three years. Rep. Gwen Graham voted no. Rep. Ted Yoho voted yes.
Disapprove “Waters of the United States” rule – With a vote of 253-166 and 14 not voting, the Chamber passed a joint resolution which disapproves of the rule issued by EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers on June 29 of 2015, commonly known as the “waters of the United States” rule that seeks to clarify the federal government’s authority to regulate certain intrastate waters under the Clean Water Act, providing that the rule will have no force or effect. Rep. Gwen Graham voted yes.
Recent Senate Votes:
Auditing the Federal Reserve – With a vote of 53-44 and three not voting, the Senate rejected the Perdue, R-Ga. motion to proceed to a bill that requires the full audit of the Board of Governors for the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve Banks by the Comptroller General for the United States. Sen. Bill Nelson voted no. Sen. Marco Rubio voted yes.
Upcoming Votes
Refugee Vetting – HR4038 The bill would prohibit refugees from Syria or Iraq from being admitted into the United States without undergoing a comprehensive, government-certified vetting process.