# GOP Provision in Stimulus on Loans to “nonprofits receiving Medicaid expendatures” **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 23, 2020, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-provision-in-stimulus-on-loans-to-nonprofits-receiving-medicaid-expendatures/850133 "2020-03-23T23:35:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-provision-in-stimulus-on-loans-to-nonprofits-receiving-medicaid-expendatures/850133/1 "2020-03-23T23:35:01Z")
[_Washington Post_: “The GOP just smuggled another awful provision into the stimulus”](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/23/gop-just-smuggled-another-awful-provision-into-big-stimulus-bill/) - According to language in the bill forwarded to me by a senior Senate Democratic aide, this provision excludes “nonprofits receiving Medicaid expenditures,” which would not be eligible for those loans. This language has been interpreted in some quarters as an effort to deny funding to Planned Parenthood, a longtime GOP target. But Democratic aides think the language means a lot more than this. Specifically, Democratic aides believe this language would exclude from eligibility for this financial assistance a big range of other nonprofits that get Medicaid funding, such as home and community-based disability providers; community-based nursing homes, mental health providers and health centers; group homes for the disabled; and even rape crisis centers. “The Republican Senate bill would prevent many small Medicaid-funded providers from accessing small business loans,” Mara Youdelman, the managing attorney of the National Health Law Program’s D.C. office, told me. Youdelman added that tens of millions of people across the country are reliant on such programs, and agreed that the GOP bill, as drafted, would exclude them from accessing the stimulus package’s assistance for small businesses. She noted that providers in rural areas could also get targeted.\* If you live in a state with Republicans in the Senate, you and everyone you know should contact them and express the opinion that now is not the time to be playing political shenanigans with peoples lives and livelihoods at a time of international crisis. This is the same group of…individuals…who held up or voted against the _Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act_, and while they may not know honor, or commitment, or shame, you can at least jam their phone lines and email with complaints. Un-\_\_\_\_ing-believable. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-provision-in-stimulus-on-loans-to-nonprofits-receiving-medicaid-expendatures/850133/2 "2020-03-24T00:00:25Z")
Ignorant Canadian here, with a bit of a hijack. If the GOP has a majority in the Senate can they not pass the bill regardless of the Democratic objections? Thanks (and apologies) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-provision-in-stimulus-on-loans-to-nonprofits-receiving-medicaid-expendatures/850133/3 "2020-03-24T00:08:50Z")
The Senate GOP is hobbled by some members being in quarantine and thus not physically present to vote. Last I heard, the majority was down to 48-47 because of these absences. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-provision-in-stimulus-on-loans-to-nonprofits-receiving-medicaid-expendatures/850133/4 "2020-03-24T00:12:50Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Ignorant Canadian here, with a bit of a hijack. > > If the GOP has a majority in the Senate can they not pass the bill regardless of the Democratic objections? > > Thanks (and apologies) They can. But if they come to believe the political price will be too high to pay—because many people do as Stranger suggests and let them know that supporting the provision puts their cushy seats in danger—then they won’t. The entire process of Republicans sitting down in secret to write a bill that would provide windfalls for their donors and stick it to those they hate, is about as ugly as Congress gets. Top it off with MoscowMitch’s predictably sanctimonious speech in support of the bill-as-written—‘how dare those Democrats hold up this bill that will help The American People?’ etc.—and you have a real cynicism-fest. > **['Are you kidding me?': McConnell blasts Democrats over coronavirus stimulus...](https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/mitch-mcconnell-blasts-democrats-over-coronavirus-stimulus-bill-deadlock-81099333899)** > > As Congress remains deadlocked over a coronavirus stimulus bill, Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., blasted his Democratic colleagues over their "wish list" of items that they would like to see in the legislation. And: > [@](#): > > …As of Monday, both sides were still working through multiple sticking points, some of which are unrelated to the coronavirus. Republicans say Democrats are trying to stick in energy provisions, while Democrats say Republicans are trying to reauthorize an abstinence education program. [https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/489066-mcconnell-warns-coronavirus-stimulus-bill-could-be-delayed-for-days](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/489066-mcconnell-warns-coronavirus-stimulus-bill-could-be-delayed-for-days) ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-provision-in-stimulus-on-loans-to-nonprofits-receiving-medicaid-expendatures/850133/5 "2020-03-24T00:20:57Z")
[House.gov: “The Legislative Process”](https://www.house.gov/the-house-explained/the-legislative-process) - How Are Laws Made? Laws begin as ideas. First, a representative sponsors a bill. The bill is then assigned to a committee for study. If released by the committee, the bill is put on a calendar to be voted on, debated or amended. If the bill passes by simple majority (218 of 435), the bill moves to the Senate. In the Senate, the bill is assigned to another committee and, if released, debated and voted on. Again, a simple majority (51 of 100) passes the bill. Finally, a conference committee made of House and Senate members works out any differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. The resulting bill returns to the House and Senate for final approval. The Government Printing Office prints the revised bill in a process called enrolling. The President has 10 days to sign or veto the enrolled bill.\* So, essentially the House of Representatives and Senate draft and vote on their own versions of the law including amendments, which then have to be resolved in committee and the final version voted by both chambers. There are some complicated processes for resolving differences which are often not very transparent. [Congressional Research Service report on _Resolving Legislative Differences in Congress: Conference Committees and Amendments Between the Houses_](https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/98-696.pdf). [More information on GovTrack: Congressional Procedures, Rules and Norms](https://www.govtrack.us/congressional-procedures) In fact, the plan probably is that the Senate will vote their version and then try to argue for ramming it through the House and blame Democrats for “obstruction”. And to be fair, Nancy Pelosi is already i[ntroducing her own separate US$2.5T bill](https://www.vox.com/2020/3/23/21191244/nancy-pelosi-house-democrats-coronavirus-stimulus-bill), which does nothing but further muddy the waters with a bill that probably won’t even get broad support among Democrats and just serves to feed the argument of partisanship. It is crucial to pass a bill as soon as possible that, even if imperfect, does more good than harm. But the proposed provision in the GOP is not a minor bit of graft; it is an ideological dump on the people who are most in need of aid. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-provision-in-stimulus-on-loans-to-nonprofits-receiving-medicaid-expendatures/850133/6 "2020-03-24T00:25:31Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > If the GOP has a majority in the Senate can they not pass the bill regardless of the Democratic objections? Likely no. Senate rules allow the minority to prevent a bill coming to a vote unless 60% of voting members support moving to the vote. The Senate could always change their internal rules. We have made all confirmation hearings now a simple majority vote in steps over recent years. A simple majority would be enough for the rules change but that majority probably does not exist. It hasn’t when Trump has specifically called for the Senate to remove the legislative filibuster rules multiple times during his first two years in office. Then there is the fact that passing the Senate by itself doesn’t do anything. If they cannot get enough Democratic support in the Senate to pass the bill, it is probably dead in the House. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-provision-in-stimulus-on-loans-to-nonprofits-receiving-medicaid-expendatures/850133/7 "2020-03-24T02:48:01Z")
Fuck it, pay 'em off. Give them their stinking “slush-fund”. \* Mazel tov\*, much good may it do them. Just be abundantly lavish in spending for the other stuff. The people, God bless 'em. The people, God save us. Give people money, they will spend it. Don’t waste time worrying about whether they deserve it or not. Some are lazy layabouts, so what? They will spend the money. Bail out Boeing? Well, OK, long as they change their name to Bail Out Boing. And show us good reason to believe that the world still wants to buy their airplanes. Otherwise, we might undermine their self-respect, make them dependent. Produce too much medical equipment? Gee, what a disaster. Anybody want to bet we will never need them again? Or sell them at bargain prices to people that do. Be good to have something more in our holster than thoughts and prayers. Press our luck, maybe some support for recreational marijuana. Can be pretty useful for conditions of enforced inactivity. Enhances entertainment, or so I’m told. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-provision-in-stimulus-on-loans-to-nonprofits-receiving-medicaid-expendatures/850133/8 "2020-03-24T08:30:07Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Specifically, Democratic aides believe this language would exclude from eligibility for this financial assistance a big range of other nonprofits that get Medicaid funding, such as home and community-based disability providers; community-based nursing homes, mental health providers and health centers; group homes for the disabled; and even rape crisis centers. So the church crowd are using the pandemic as a way to stick it to all those nasty secular providers of service and eliminate them so if people want help they’ll have no alternative but to join one of their little cults… … well, sure - because saving people for a mythical afterlife is more important that actually relieving suffering in the living and preventing illness and death. :rolleyes: