Legislation on the House Floor
On any given week here in the House of Representatives, I vote on a wide variety of legislation that affects Virginians in different ways. This past week (June 20th) was no exception. Below is a breakdown of just a portion of the bills I voted on.
The CHOICE Arrangement Act
The Custom Health Option and Individual Care Expense (CHOICE) Arrangements Act, which I voted in favor of, codifies a 2019 Trump Administration rule allowing small businesses to reimburse employees for buying their own health insurance on the individual market through health reimbursement arrangements, as well as providing tax-advantaged funds for qualified medical expenses.
The bill also expands Association Health Plans by allowing those who are self-employed to come together to create a buying pool for health insurance. This is beneficial for certain sectors, with sole practitioners, who need more health care options and flexibility.
One such sector are REALTORS® who usually work for a brokage but are almost always legally considered self-employed. When the Trump Administration instituted this change in 2019, REALTORS®, among others, saw premium reductions of over 50 percent.
Unfortunately, Democrats in the House are against this flexible health care proposal. No Democrat voted for the bill.
Further, the Biden Administration has worked to prevent these health plans from being used. I believe they want more individuals in the flawed health insurance exchange, Obamacare.
The Administration has even gone so far as to have taken action to stop Virginia from enforcing a state law allowing these same kind of health insurance benefits. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sent a letter to Governor Youngkin in May saying CMS would step in to enforce “specified federal market reforms” if Virginia continued to fail to do so.
If CMS were to do this, it would prevent individuals, like REALTORS®, from joining together to buy health insurance, which helps to lower their premiums and costs.
Other groups that could benefit include accounts, lawyers, and insurance agents in small firms.
The CHOICE Arrangements Act also allows for groups to band together across state lines to purchase health coverage. This is great for folks in the Ninth District who live close to the state line (Bristol, Bluefield, Martinsville, and Galax).
Eliminating a Tax on Those with Good Credit
In the aftermath of the 2008 housing crisis, government-sponsored mortgage insurers (like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) began charging a one-time fee as a risk-based pricing tool to encourage responsible lending. Earlier this year, the Biden Administration’s Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) created a new rule updating how the fee was set, based on a borrower’s credit score.
Much to the shock of most everyone, the new fee structure penalized those people with good credit and rewarded those people with not-so-good credit. Borrowers with good credit scores would be charged higher fees, while those with not-so-good credit scores would have their fees lowered.
With this new rule, the Biden Administration expects those with higher credit to subsidize those who are a riskier bet.
How does that make sense? Why would we punish people for working hard to improve their credit score?
In response to this new rule, House Republicans brought H.R. 3564, the Middle-Class Borrower Protection Act of 2023, to the floor. This bill, which I voted for, eliminates this new tax on homebuyers with good credit, ensuring that the Administration cannot force Americans to subsidize risky loans. Also, 14 Democrats crossed the aisle and voted for it.
Censuring Adam Schiff
Additionally, I and other House Republicans voted to censure Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the former Chairman of the Intel Committee. While Chairman, Rep. Schiff falsely claimed for years that he had proof of Russia colluding with former President Trump. He used his power as the Chairman to weaponize the Intel Committee, lying to the rest of Congress and the American public about what he knew. Schiff’s censuring follows Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s removal of Schiff from the Intel Committee in January.
Now House Republicans have held Rep. Schiff accountable for years of lying. And with this censure comes a House Ethics investigation into Schiff’s actions.
As seen above, the House covered a wide breath of subjects on the House floor. And this is only a few from the entire week, along with hearings and meetings.
Also, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India addressed Members of Congress at a Joint Meeting of Congress.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov.
Maria Bowling
June 27, 2023 @ 3:14 pm
You would do best to write your articles to appeal to all of your constituents and give both sides of an issue., like that the CHOICE Arrangement Act would significantly increase the deficit. The report on possible collusion said that there was evidence that should be followed up on. It was not an exoneration. Instead of going after Adam Schiff, how about coming up with an actual BUDGET and immigration reform plan? Meaning, like, GET SOMETHING DONE.
T.Weeks
June 26, 2023 @ 12:20 pm
Russia Collusion? Really?
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-russia-probe-durham-report/h_dd2edf147465372454181b666595a2ca
You all really need to read more than just the left-leaning headlines…
https://nypost.com/2022/06/11/the-fbi-knew-russiagate-was-a-lie-but-hid-that-truth/
Terry Blankenship
June 24, 2023 @ 11:32 pm
Anyone who is afraid to hold open town hall meetings, still supports the twice impeached expresident, who was and still is, a direct threat to out country, doesn’t know the truth.
You’ve done nothing for the working people in Virginia, only the big rich corporations , who donate to your coffers.
You’re another one whose scared of the extreme far right, and instead of doing what’s right for America, continue to support the nut jobs who have taken over Congress!
Shauna Shatto
June 24, 2023 @ 6:31 pm
Thank you Keith Franklin for calling Morgan Griffith out on his lies.
Shame on you Morgan Griffith. You know you are lying.
There was collusion with Russia and there is proof of that. You Republicans didn’t like that Adam Schiff was pointing out all the lies that you guys were saying. So you censured him. It’s shameful that you have aligned yourself with the extreme right of the House.
There is tons of evidence of corruption with Republicans, starting from the top in the Supreme Court, and many more instances of Congress people in the House.
Anyone who wants to see when and how each congressman has ever voted, on the floor of Congress, should look it up. Don’t just take their word for it. They are relying on you to be misinformed.
You can access votes using Congress.gov, search for a bill, and click on the “Actions” tab. All House and Senate roll call votes will be listed with links to the House and Senate’s web pages. The Congressional Record is the official source of information on recorded floor votes.
T.Weeks
June 24, 2023 @ 1:05 pm
GREAT job Morgan!!
Ignore the socialist banter.. Anyone who would vote to punish people with good credit scores is a moron.
Also.. it’s about time someone starting holding the Democrats accountable for their crimes against We the People, AND for interfering in the 2016 elections with the RUSSIA! RUSSIA! RUSSIA Lies.. and resulting social media collusion & censorship! The Dem run FBI even altered emails to lie to the FISA courts in order to justify wiretapping Trump in an election year! WTHeck?!? Now the cards are down and people are seeing what terrible things the Dem house did.. THANK YOU for not letting it go!
Keep up the good work.. we’ll remember your stance on these issues.. I vote ISSUES, not personality or even party!
Keith Franklin
June 24, 2023 @ 12:08 pm
Cool, so you voted to give business owners a tax break by forcing employees to shoulder the cost of healthcare. You also voted against a crisis that you invented as no middle class persons interest rate is going to increase to support the poor.
In one final act of depravity, you voted to censure a fellow congressman for providing oversight on the executive branch, which is what they are supposed to do, while shaking hands and doing lunch with fellow Republican Congressman George Santos who is on the verge of being convicted for racketeering, money laundering for the communists in Russia, and felony larceny.
Great week Griffith, maybe that will earn you a cabin next to supreme court justices Alito and Thomas on their next million dollar yacht vacation sponsored by the Republican billionaire donor of the week.