Latest United States Senate Committee on Finance Stories

Author Jacob Hacker Finds Public Plan Vital to Controlling Costs, Improving Quality as Health Care Reform Debate Centers on Public Insurance Choice WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., and Liz Fowler, senior counsel to Sen. Max Baucus, will join health care expert and U.C. Berkeley professor Jacob Hacker and Institute for America's Future co-director Roger Hickey on a conference call with reporters on...

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) released the following statement on the "Call to Action" white paper released today by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) which outlines various policy options to reform and expand access to health benefits: "We commend Senator Baucus for his ongoing determination to improve the quality, affordability and accessibility of American health care. Senator Baucus is wise to focus on prevention, wellness and the unique needs...

By Steve Peoples The state is negotiating an unprecedented Medicaid waiver from the federal government in an attempt to save money, but some congressional leaders are wary. PROVIDENCE -- Rhode Island's unprecedented attempt to transform its health-care system for the poor has drawn criticism from key congressional leaders, who fear that closed-door negotiations between the Bush administration and Governor Carcieri may put "beneficiaries, providers, and the entire state at risk...." In...

By MARY RAE BRAGG Encouraging news for Dubuque's passenger train proponents: Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, is going to be on the conference committee charged with reconciling differences between the House and Senate versions of the Amtrak Reauthorization bill. Braley announced his appointment to the committee Friday, saying he's excited to support Iowa's passenger rail needs. "With gas prices now over $4 per gallon, it's time to invest in alternative forms of transportation," Braley said in...

By Olympia Meola, Jim Nolan and Jeff E. Schapiro, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va. Jun. 25--A fix for transportation that relies on higher fuel taxes is headed to the Virginia Senate. Voting on party lines, the Democrat-controlled Senate finance committee this morning endorsed legislation raising the gasoline tax a penny per gallon -- per year -- for the next six years. The increase would be applied to the wholesale price of gasoline, not what Virginians pay at the pump. The bill is carried by...

By Scott, Tristan BONNER - Plum Creek Timber Co. says it is on the brink of selling about 300.000 acres of its woodsy Montana parcels for cherished public land use - such as hunting, hiking and fishing. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., together with a timber company executive and representatives from a pair of conservation groups, announced a blueprint for the land deal Friday afternoon during a rain-soaked news conference on the banks of the Blackfoot River near here. The lands, which ultimately...

By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate could vote next month on rival bills affecting trade and currency relations with China, a top U.S. senator said on Wednesday. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said he was prepared for the possibility Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, might demand a long-promised vote on their bill threatening China with steep tariffs. "If they bring...

By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Finance Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to require Peru to fully reopen its market to U.S. beef before a trade pact between the two countries would take effect. Peru, like many other countries, shut down beef trade from the United States more than two years ago after a case of mad cow disease was found in Washington state. Lima has taken some steps to resume beef trade, but continues to "arbitrarily block U.S. beef products from...

By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An agreement is close on U.S. legislation to stabilize the system of employer-provided pensions, key lawmakers involved in the months-long negotiations said on Tuesday. Negotiators only have "loose ends" to tie up on major issues involved in the bill, and parts of it are already being drafted into legislative language, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley told reporters. "There's still some loose ends to be finalized on the major...

By Donna Smith WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Short of votes needed in the U.S. Senate to permanently repeal inheritance taxes, key Republican and Democratic lawmakers said on Wednesday that they were seeking a compromise that would permanently exempt all but the wealthiest estates from the tax. Lawmakers said a test vote set for Thursday may fall short of the 60 votes needed in the 100-member Senate to advance the measure that will wipe out what Republicans call the "death tax." Sen. Jon...