Photo by dullshick
Good morning, Washington. The House actually passed the Senate’s health care reform bill late last night, sending a piece of legislation this country has been talking about ad nauseam for well over a year at last to President Obama’s desk for his signature. It’s a big bill and a very big deal that it got done, but is it really over? Can we now look forward to fewer hate mongering tea partiers coming to town and discussion about, oh, any other area of policy on the cable news shows? Hahahahaha. Of course not.
Even after the president signs the bill later this week, the Senate still needs to pass the reconciliation measure, and from there we go more or less straight into election season — which seems likely to feature a whole lotta discussion about this particular bill this year. So the short answer is, no, we can’t stop talking about health care yet, no matter how desperately we might want to.
But here’s something that’s not getting talked about enough: attached to the health care bill were important changes to the way this country lends money to college students. By cutting out the middle man, the government saves money and Pell grants get bigger. Exciting stuff.
Reconstruction of Three D.C. Schools Delayed: Bruce-Monroe Elementary, Brookland Education Campus and Turner Elementary won’t be renovated any time soon, despite promises from DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee back in 2008 that they would, Bill Turque reports in the Post. City officials attribute the delay to “reduced revenue because of the economy and unanticipated expenditures on other projects,” but also to “unplanned directives” from Mayor Fenty, including new playgrounds for two Ward 3 schools and an $8 million recreation center for Wheatley, none of which was part of the original modernization budget.
Harry Thomas, Jr. Scolded by Campaign Finance Office: The D.C. Office of Campaign Finance has determined that Ward 5 D.C. Council member Harry Thomas, Jr. should never have allowed his policy director, Victoria Leonard, to “serve as co-founder, board member and treasurer of the Ward 5 Business Council, and to perform work on behalf of the organization during business hours using government equipment,” the Examiner reports. Although the OCF decided to formally admonish Thomas for the ethics violation, it let him off the hook on the more serious charges that he solicited a $55,000 contribution from a developer in exchange for his support for a project the contractor was pursuing.
Briefly Noted: Renee Bowman to be sentenced today … Body pulled from Anacostia River … Double shooting in the 1300 block of Alabama Ave. SE … Leggett’s bodyguards still in MoCo County budget.
This Day in DCist: In 2008, we live-blogged debate over D.C. voting rights on the floor of the U.S. House.
