Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer laid out a new Democratic counterproposal for ending the government shutdown: attaching a one-year extension of soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act subsidies to a spending stopgap that would reopen agencies.
Schumer outlined the proposal during a floor speech Friday that was heavily attended by other Democratic senators in a show of caucus unity.
“We would like to offer a simple proposal that would reopen the government and extend the ACA premium tax credits simultaneously,” Schumer said.
Schumer proposed a “clean” one-year extension to the tax credits that expire on Dec. 31 — meaning they would not include new restrictions on eligibility that many Republicans have sought. He also proposed creating a bipartisan committee to negotiate a longer-term solution for the subsidies and other health care reforms, to begin its work after the government reopens.
