Late night, closed-door deals will shape final health bill

[Nikki Stone1]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/3383661

WASHINGTON — With Senate passage of health-care legislation now virtually certain, Washington lawmakers and interest groups are scrambling to influence one of Congress' most mysterious but most powerful institutions — the conference committee.
The Senate is expected to pass its version of the $871 billion health-care overhaul early Thursday, after 58 Democrats and two independents agreed Tuesday to cut off another Republican-led debate.

If the bill passes, it will need to be reconciled with the version the House of Representatives passed on Nov. 7 . That job falls to a House-Senate conference committee, a group that likely will consist of a handful of senior lawmakers loyal to party congressional leaders, and working behind closed doors.

To most Americans, the conference process is an enigma, rarely taught in history or civics lessons. Even the "School House Rock" classic animated step-by-step primer, "I'm Just a Bill,'' skipped over the conference committee's role.

On Capitol Hill , however, it's a tradition steeped in late-night, closed-door deals and howls of protest from the frozen-out minority party.....

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