McConnell trying to send revised ACA to CBO by Friday

 
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is aiming to send a revised version of his health-care bill to the Congressional Budget Office by as soon as Friday, according to Capitol Hill aides and lobbyists.
The effort reflects the tight timeline McConnell faces in his attempt to hold a vote before the August recess — and the pressure he is under to make changes that improve the CBO’s measure of the bill’s impact on coverage levels and federal spending.
McConnell is trying to move quickly to produce a new CBO score by the time lawmakers return to Washington in mid-July, giving the Senate about two weeks to fulfill the majority leader’s goal of voting before the August recess.
McConnell and his aides plan continue negotiations through the end of the week and will be in frequent communication with the CBO, according to McConnell spokesman David Popp.

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Md. Gov. cancels predecessor’s ‘zero-waste’ landfill plan


Michael Dresser reports for The Baltimore Sun:

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday night that he has canceled “zero-waste” landfill rules issued by Gov. Martin O’Malley a week before he left office in 2015.

Speaking to the annual summer gathering of the Maryland Municipal League, the Republican governor said he was rescinding the policy in response to complaints from local governments.
Hogan told the group of town and city officials that his Democratic predecessor’s action “usurped local authority” and “created overflowing landfills and unnecessary hardships for local governments.”
“We are replacing that last-minute, ill-conceived and poorly devised policy with a common-sense, balanced approach to managing waste in Maryland,” he said.
Hogan said his action lifts a moratorium on permits for new landfills and sets “achievable” goals for recycling.
Baltimore City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke said Hogan ought to reconsider and join other states trying to implement zero-waste policies.


“It sounds as if not only trash but also policy would now be moving in exactly the wrong direction,” she said. “I find that an unwise decision, which sounds very Trump-ian, and I hope the governor will reconsider and help us bring Maryland back into its unity with other states across the nation who are trying to save the environment through zero waste policies.”

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New island forming off North Carolina’s Outer Banks

USA TODAY reports:

To the delight of beachgoers and photographers, a new island has formed off the coast of North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

The island, which is off the coast of Cape Point near the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, is a mile long and three football fields wide, The Virginian Pilot reported.

Instagram user chadonka posted an aerial image of the new island, which shows just how big it is.


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NJ lawmakers again raid green funds; make clean getaway


Administration, lawmakers tap $75 million from fund, up $25 million from amount announced previously — in addition to $161 million already diverted this year

Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:

With only a few days left in the fiscal year, the Christie administration and lawmakers turned to an old and trusted standby to help plug the last remaining gap in the current state budget.

Without debate, both the Assembly and Senate budget committees yesterday approved a bill (A-5000) tapping another $75 million — up $25 million from the amount announced last month — from the state Clean Energy Fund for a supplemental appropriation.
The legislation, introduced on June 15, aims to balance the state budget by diverting money from a variety of funds, although just how much is unclear because the measure only listed specific amounts for the Clean Energy Fund, which is supposed to finance renewable energy and energy conservation programs.
In addition, the legislation would tap unspecified dollars from the state recycling fund and the Unclaimed Utility Deposits Trust Fund. According to sources, the amount totaled about $10 million. The state fiscal year ends June 30.
The bill said the additional $75 million would be added on to past diversions allocated to NJ Transit and the budget to cover utility costs. The bill passed quietly on a day when legislative leadership were holed up in negotiations over next year’s fiscal budget, which begins on Saturday.
In May, the Christie administration announced a $527 million shortfall in revenue that needed to be closed before the end of the fiscal year. The bulk of the deficit was to be closed by pushing off payments of about $300 million to municipalities to cover Homestead property-tax credits until the new fiscal year.
At the time, state Treasurer Ford Scudder said the state would divert an additional $50 million from the Clean Energy Fund to plug the gap, a common tactic used by legislators and the administration. This fiscal year the fund already has had roughly $161 million diverted to other uses.
With the latest $75 million diversion added to the $161 million that already has been tapped, approximately 60 percent of the state’s Clean Energy Fund has been raided, according to Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Anything that is not nailed down, they are going to take,’’ he said.
More than $1.5 billion has been diverted from the Clean Energy Fund during Christie’s tenure with legislative support. The fund is financed by a surcharge on gas and electric customers’ monthly bills.
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Bill targeting Horizon’s reserves clears NJ Senate panel

Horizon Blue Cross Shield of New Jersey officials at the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee hearing Monday in Trenton. – ()
Legislators advanced a bill Monday that could significantly increase the state’s control over the finances of its largest insurer, as well as set a precedent for businesses statewide.
The bill, introduced Friday by Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Woodbridge), and amended Monday, cleared the state Senate’s Budget and Appropriations Committee.
If it becomes law, it would allow the state to have access to “excess” reserves of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.
Vitale said the bill does not create “a slush fund” and is not a “money-grabbing” move. He said it establishes a “ceiling” for the reserves of Horizon, and anything beyond the ceiling would be “divested in a public way” to the state.
Currently, Vitale explained, there is only a range, or “floor,” within which Horizon keeps its reserves.
“We don’t want (Horizon)to be over-reserved. There is no benefit to the members if they are over-reserved,” Vitale said.
Horizon said it ended 2016 with a risk-based capital, or reserves ratio, of 620 percent, and it is incurring substantial losses in the individual market this year. It expects to end the year with an RBC under 590 percent, which is at the lower end of the 550-700 percent range established by regulators in Pennsylvania.

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Menendez blasts GOP healthcare bill as ‘downright nasty’


Legislation could ultimately cost New Jersey $30 billion in Medicaid funding

“Page by page, this Republican plan forces Americans to pay more for less, less comprehensive healthcare coverage,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, speaking about the Senate GOP’s bill meant to repeal and replace Obamacare.
He added that the Republican legislation could ultimately slash $30 billion in Medicaid funding in New Jersey, where more than a half-million people enrolled under Medicaid expansion could lose coverage.
Menendez spoke at a news conference at Newark Community Health Centers, where slightly more than half the patients are on Medicaid.


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