Area Votes in Congress

WASHINGTON - Here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress voted on major issues last week:

House

Veterans' access to health care. By a unanimous vote of 426-0, the House on Tuesday passed a bill (HR 4810) qualifying veterans for health care outside the Department of Veterans Affairs system for the next two years if they live more than 40 miles from a VA medical unit or face lengthy waits for appointments at nearby VA facilities.

A yes vote was to send the bill to conference with a similar Senate-passed bill.

Voting yes: Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), John Carney (D., Del.), Matt Cartwright (D., Pa.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Michael Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Patrick Meehan (R., Pa.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.), Jon Runyan (R., N.J.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

Federal food-safety inspections. Voting 150-272, the House on Wednesday refused to raise fiscal 2015 spending for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service by $5.5 million and cut spending for Farm Service Agency conservation programs by the same amount. This would restore the USDA budget for food safety to its 2014 level of $1.01 billion. The amendment was proposed to a bill (HR 4800), still in debate, that would appropriate $20.9 billion in discretionary spending next year for the USDA, Food and Drug Administration, Commodities Futures Trading Commission and other agencies.

A yes vote was to increase spending for food safety by $5.5 million.

Voting yes: Brady, Carney, Cartwright, Fattah, LoBiondo, and Schwartz.

Voting no: Dent, Gerlach, Fitzpatrick, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.

Corporate tax breaks, larger deficits. Voting 263-155, the House on Thursday passed a Republican-drafted bill (HR 4453) that would lower tax liabilities in certain instances when companies convert from "C corporation" to "S corporation" status. Because the bill is not paid for, it would add $1.5 billion to federal deficits between fiscal 2014 and 2024, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

A yes vote was to pass a bill providing corporate tax relief while raising annual deficits.

Voting yes: Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.

Voting no: Brady, Carney, Cartwright, Fattah, and Schwartz.

Depreciation tax breaks, larger deficits. By a vote of 272-144, the House on Thursday passed a Republican-drafted bill (HR 4457) that would permanently grant depreciation tax breaks to medium-size and small businesses. Such breaks now are temporary but are routinely renewed on an annual basis. Because the bill is not paid for, it would add $73 billion to federal deficits between fiscal 2014 and 2024, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

A yes vote was to pass a bill providing depreciation tax breaks while raising annual deficits.

Voting yes: Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.

Voting no: Brady, Carney, Cartwright, Fattah, and Schwartz.

2015 transportation, housing budget.

Voting 229-192, the House on Tuesday passed a bill (HR 4745) to appropriate $52 billion in fiscal 2015 discretionary spending for the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development and related agencies.

A yes vote was to send the bill to conference with the Senate.

Voting yes: Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.

Voting no: Brady, Carney, Cartwright, Fattah, and Schwartz.

2015 Amtrak budget. Voting 154-248, the House on Monday rejected an amendment to HR 4745 (above) that would cut operating grants for Amtrak by $34 million, or 10 percent, in fiscal 2015. This left intact the bill's $340 million operating budget next year for the federally subsidized rail-passenger service.

A yes vote was to cut the Amtrak budget by $34 million.

Voting yes: Pitts.

Voting no: Carney, Cartwright, Fattah, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Meehan, Runyan, and Schwartz.

Not voting: Brady, Dent, and Smith.

Senate

Student-loan refinancing; millionaire's tax. Voting 56-38, the Senate on Wednesday failed to reach 60 votes needed to end Republican blockage of a bill (S 2431) that would allow tens of millions of individuals to refinance their student loans over the next two years. To offset its $5 billion-plus annual cost to the Treasury, the bill would impose a 30 percent minimum tax on households with at least $1 million in income from salaries and/or investments.

A yes vote was to end a GOP filibuster against the loan-refinancing bill.

Voting yes: Cory Booker (D., N.J.), Thomas Carper (D., Del.), Bob Casey (D., Pa.), Chris Coons (D., Del.), and Robert Menendez (D., N.J.).

Voting no: Pat Toomey (R., Pa.).

Improvements to veterans' health care. By a vote of 93-3, the Senate on Wednesday passed a bill (HR 3230) providing outside treatment options for veterans who live more than 40 miles from Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities or face lengthy waits for VA appointments.

A yes vote was to pass the bill, which will be combined with a similar House-passed measure.

Voting yes: Booker, Carper, Casey, Coons, Menendez, and Toomey.

This week. The House will resume debate on the fiscal 2015 agricultural appropriations bill, while the Senate will take up the Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations bill for 2015 and vote on judicial nominations.