Folks... here it is again - and it appears to be back on a fast moving track. Please keep this story alive/kicked today, I will be out 'til evening. LBN moves so quickly that this could be lost in the news... while the new form of the bill has just quietly been revived.
Senate leaders plan vote on stalled energy billReuters, 02.12.04, 11:24 PM ET
By Chris Baltimore
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate party leaders reached a deal late Thursday to bring a slimmed-down, $14 billion energy bill to a swift vote after lawmakers return from a week-long holiday later this month.
In a bid to break an impasse on the first major overhaul of U.S. energy policy in more than a decade, Majority Leader Bill Frist formally introduced a stripped-down bill.
Frist, a Tennessee Republican, invoked a parliamentary rule that allows him to bring the new legislation directly to the Senate floor for debate, bypassing committee action.
"We will consider it as quickly as possible, in a constrained manner, with as few amendments as possible," Frist said on the Senate floor, with a deal in hand from Minority Leader Tom Daschle.
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Frist and Daschle said the bill will come to a swift vote when the Senate returns from a week-long recess Feb. 23. Even if it wins Senate passage, the bill would still face an uphill path to passage in the House.
more...
http://www.forbes.com/business/newswire/2004/02/12/rtr1259703.html