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First Posted: 3/27/2014 A procedural vote in the U.S. Senate on Thursday could be a win for the tens of thousands of Americans whose unemployment benefits ran out last year but is a huge defeat for U.S.Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton.
The Senate took H.R. 3979 &#8212; Barletta&#8217;s House bill that would exempt emergency services volunteers from the employer mandate provision of Obamacare that passed the House unanimously on March 11 &#8212; and will strip all of the language out of it and replace it with language retroactively extending jobless benefits for five months.
The vote Thursday was taken with the understanding the bill was solely an extension of benefits bill, nothing more. Though the bill number was still 3979, the 3979 that Barletta drafted and saw through its House vote will soon no longer exist.
The bill survived a filibuster vote in the Senate on Thursday by a 65-34 margin, which allows it to proceed with debate and a vote on its new language and intent in the near future. If it&#8217;s approved it will head back to the House, where its fate is less certain.
The gutting of what was a bipartisan, well-supported and non-controversial bill is something that irks Barletta.
&#8220;This is nothing but a political stunt by Harry Reid,&#8221; said Barletta. &#8220;He is playing politics at the expense of the brave men and women who protect our communities each and every day. &#8230; Attaching any language to my legislation, unemployment compensation or not, is just plain wrong. I will continue to support full passage of my bill and its original, bipartisan intent.&#8221;
Barletta&#8217;s bill sought to clear up language in the Affordable Care Act that may have required volunteer emergency service organizations such as fire companies and ambulance crews to provide health care to volunteers if their complement totalled more than 50 or risk facing fines.
Barletta found the loophole last year and pushed for months to get an answer from the IRS about whether the volunteer organizations were exempt from the employer mandate of Obamacare. After months of pressure, the Department of the Treasury issued a letter indicating that volunteer firefighters and emergency medical personnel will not be counted as full-time employees under the ACA.
Barletta, however, continued to pursue passage of the bill &#8212; H.R. 3979 &#8212; as insurance against future changes from the IRS.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, brought the bill to the floor for a vote Thursday. It passed with all 55 Democrats and 10 Republicans including U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Zionsville, voting in favor of the motion.
The package calls for extending benefits retroactively, to Dec. 28, for five months, meaning the unemployed would face another cutoff at the end of May. The $9.6 billion cost would be paid for by imposing customs fees at the borders and other methods.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Barletta raps Senate treatment to his bill