This Week in Congress: January 6-10

Katherine Rosario /

House

Analysis: This week, the House may consider legislation to amend the Exchange Information Disclosure Act, a bill designed to increase transparency in the operation of American Health Benefit Exchanges. It may also consider the Health Exchange Security and Transparency Act of 2014, a bill to require notifying individuals of breaches of personally identifiable information through the exchanges under Obamacare. These attempts to improve the transparency and security of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, speak to Congress’s recognition of the law’s failures in these areas. However, the only acceptable solution is to repeal the law entirely and replace it with a market-based, patient-centered alternative.

Major Floor Action

Major Committee Action

Senate

Analysis: This week, the Senate may consider the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act. The Heritage Foundation’s James Sherk testified before Congress on the effectiveness of extending unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. He explained the Emergency Unemployment Compensation system has the negative effect of making being “unemployed less costly, causing UI recipients to take longer to find new work.” There are policy tradeoffs that come with extending UI benefits that Congress should consider. The Senate may also resume consideration of the nomination of Janet Yellen to be Chairwoman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The Heritage Foundation notes that if confirmed, Yellen would likely continue to grow the Fed’s power and make the institution’s regulations increasingly politicized.

Major Floor Action

Major Committee Action