Economic stimulus package: 2/3 majority in House to pass?

[friedo]

According to CNN,

The House approved a $146 billion economic stimulus package Tuesday afternoon by a wide, bipartisan margin, but the package had an uncertain future in the Senate.

The vote was 385-35, with one representative voting present. The bill needed two-thirds of the voting members to pass.

As far as I know, off the top of my head, the only times a 2/3 supermajority is needed in the House are to override a Presidential veto or to expel a member. What’s the deal here?

[Exapno_Mapcase]

A speeded up procedure.

http://cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=cqmidday-000002662591

For now, the House bill has broad bipartisan support. The chamber’s leaders decided they have so many votes to spare that they took it up under an expedited floor procedure that requires a two-thirds majority for passage.

Apparently the Senate will do something similar and require 60 votes for passage.

[Ravenman]

The House rules provide for a procedure known as “suspension of the rules.” Typically, the House must pass a rule before it proceeds to consider a bill. A rule sets out how much debate is allowed, how many amendments, and so on. There are opportunities to debate and even amend a rule before it is passed, and there are certain other procedural matters involved, so passing a bill by this standard route requires a fair amount of work.

Under the suspension of the rules procedures, non-controversial bills can be quickly brought to the floor for a vote with limited debate and no amendments. Because this procedure stifles debate and the ability of congressmen to change the bill, a 2/3 threshold for passage is required to insure that the bill really isn’t controversial.

If a bill fails under suspension of the rules (doesn’t get the required 2/3rds vote) it can be brought to the floor under normal procedures, with a rule and all that. This happens infrequently.