Key federal management lawmakers brace for health care vote

As House members prepare for a climactic referendum on health care reform legislation on Sunday, some Democratic lawmakers who play key roles in federal management issues could prove to be crucial swing votes. Here's where those representatives stand on health care as of Friday afternoon:

• Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va.: Connolly, a freshman lawmaker who represents more federal employees than any other House member, fought hard against the inclusion of an excise tax on so-called Cadillac health care plans in the House version of the legislation. But the Senate put the tax back in, and the reconciliation legislation includes a delayed version of it indexed to the growth in costs of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program Blue Cross Blue Shield Standard Option. Talking Points Memo reports that despite those changes, Connolly is set to vote for the bill.
• Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md.: Cummings is a definite yes vote. He has large numbers of uninsured voters in his district and has worked to help House leadership round up votes for the bill.
• Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform federal workforce subcommittee: Lynch emerged as a surprise vote against health care reform legislation on Thursday, saying the legislation was not sweeping enough to be effective, and he disapproved of the methods House leadership was using to pass the bill. "There's a difference between compromise and surrender, right?" he told the Boston Globe. Even a meeting with President Obama failed to change his mind.
• Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.: Maloney plans to vote for the health care reform bill, saying the package goes "further than any other health care legislation in my lifetime -- and probably yours -- in extending health care coverage and reducing health care costs over time."
• Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Md.: On the stump in recent weeks, Sarbanes has acknowledged voters' anger with Washington, but emphasized they should blame insurance companies for their health care woes, not lawmakers working to pass reform. Observers uniformly consider him a yes vote.
• Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee: Skelton, who represents many older voters and is concerned about health care reform's impact on military and veterans' health care, has said he will vote against health care reform, but Democrats are continuing to court him in hope of changing his mind. Skelton is pushing for legislation to ensure that TRICARE and other Defense Department health care programs will be exempt from any health care reform changes.
• Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee: The Mississippi Democrat has been a consistent supporter of health care reform efforts and is expected to vote for the bill.
• Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee: Towns announced his firm support for the reconciliation bill in a statement on Thursday, saying, "While no bill will be perfect, I know the results of inaction will be far worse….For too long Congress sat on the sidelines, ignoring the health care crisis that exists in our nation and hurting American families."
• Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee: Waxman is, as The New York Times noted, one of the "main architects" of the bill moving through Congress. Yes votes don't get more definite than this.