Just prior to the Easter Recess, the House and the Senate approved budget resolutions for the first time in six years. More significantly, House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi found common ground to move major bipartisan entitlement reform legislation through the House. For example, after more than a decade of trying, the House was able to agree to a permanent “doc fix” bill. Modernization of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the 1976 law governing the commercial use of toxic chemicals, could be the next “under-the-radar” bill to move through Congress.
With congressional leaders eager to schedule votes on and pass meaningful economic legislation that will further demonstrate the ability of the new Congress to govern and to focus on economic matters, which continue to be a top priority for American voters. The recent vote in the House of Representatives to address the “doc fix” illustrates that significant legislation can pass in the current Congress, particularly when it is legislation that is truly bipartisan in nature and has not become a lightning rod for partisan warfare. We think TSCA reform could be next.
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