GOP chairman: Leadership looking at September for mental health vote

House leadership is tentatively planning to bring a mental health reform bill to the House floor in September, according to Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.)

{mosads}The Energy and Commerce panel on Wednesday advanced the long-delayed measure out of committee on a 53-0 vote, after major changes were made to bring lawmakers, particularly Democrats, on board. 

The bill would create a new assistant secretary role in the Department of Health and Human Services to oversee mental health and substance abuse programs. It also includes grants for innovative programs and for areas such as suicide prevention and early intervention for children with mental illness. 

“They were thinking, tentatively in September,” Upton said of leadership’s thoughts on bringing the bill to the floor. 

But he noted the strong, bipartisan vote could aid advocates of bringing up the bill sooner. 

“We’re going to see if we might be able to move it up to July, you know with a 53-0 vote, maybe there’s a chance,” Upton said, adding “it’s not my call.”

The office of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said it had no updates at the moment on the timing of floor consideration. 

Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) said that he spoke to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) about the bill on Tuesday. Ryan has pointed to the bill as the Republican response to mass shootings. 

Murphy said that he is hoping for a vote before the August recess, so that the measure does not “languish” over the summer. 

However, Upton noted that there is not a lot of floor time left before Congress leaves for recess in mid-July. 

Democrats on the committee, in particular, had long been opposed to the legislation, but Upton said that the time pressure of looking to have a committee markup in June had helped bring lawmakers toward consensus over the past two months.