Franken pushes for 'pass and pledge' strategy on healthcare

The Senate should pledge to pass fixes to its health bill with a simple majority if the House passes the Senate's original legislation, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) urged Thursday.

Franken urged lawmakers in both parties to adopt a "pass and pledge" strategy on healthcare as Democratic leaders in both parties mull options on how to proceed with health reform.

"The best way for that to happen, and as far as I can see – the only way for that to happen – is what I’m calling 'pledge and pass,'" Franken said in a speech before the Families USA Health Action conference, according to prepared remarks.

He said that he understood that many House members found elements of the Senate bill "distasteful," but said it was a good foundation with which lawmakers could work.

"If we in the Senate pledge to fix those elements through reconciliation – a budget process that requires only 51 votes, the House of Representatives should pass the Senate Bill," Franken said.

The freshman senator's remarks reflect a growing movement toward an option that would see the House and Senate partner up to finish action on health reform, despite months of distrust between lawmakers in both chambers.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has not yet said she'd have the votes to pass the Senate bill, but said during a press conference that if the Senate were to pledge to pass fixes under budget reconciliation, which bypasses the usual, 60-vote threshold needed to end a filibuster, then health talks may move forward.

"If there is a willingness for us to pursue with the constitutional majority rule, then I think we’ll be able to come up with something that sufficiently addresses the concerns of House Members of the policy in the Senate bill," she said.

Still, a number of centrist Democrats in the Senate have said they would reject using reconciliation on healthcare, meaning Democrats couldn't afford to lose too many, or lose a simple majority vote on the bill.

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