It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy.   

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WHAT EXACTLY IS IN THE VETERANS BILL, AND WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG?
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews ([link removed])
Correspondent

The modern Congress does things two ways – the hard way and the painfully hard way.

The most sweeping veterans benefits bill in decades has gone through what could be a third level of difficulty: a combination of false starts and stops, changing allegiances and some old-fashioned budget rules.

To clear up where things stand, here’s a look at what is in the “Honoring our PACT Act,” who it could help, why some Republicans have opposed it, and why others moved from “yes” to “no” and back again to “yes.”

What are the basics of the bill?
* The full name: Sgt. First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act. It is named for an Ohio veteran who died in 2020 of lung cancer, thought to be related to his exposure to military trash pits ([link removed]) in Iraq.
* Nickname: The PACT Act.
* Length: 150 pages. You can read it here ([link removed]) .
* Direct cost: $278.5 billion over 10 years, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate.

What does the bill do, broadly? It greatly expands who qualifies for veterans care, specifically expanding support for veterans affected by toxic exposures, including burn pits.

Could you lay out the specifics? Sure thing! Let me return to bullet points. The PACT Act:
* Creates a fund to ensure that veterans suffering from toxic exposures will get care.
* Extends eligibility so that younger veterans – those serving after 9/11 – can qualify.
* Changes how 23 symptoms of toxic exposure are considered so that they are *presumed* to be from that exposure. For example, hypertension. The presumption previously was that these kinds of medical problems were related to the individual’s physique, family history or other unknown factors – not toxic exposure. It also expands the ability of Vietnam War-era veterans to qualify for care due to conditions that could be caused by Agent Orange exposure.
* Finally, it takes on a host of specific other issues, including decades of water contamination at Camp Lejeune ([link removed]) in North Carolina. The bill would let families and others harmed by that to get reparations from the U.S. government.

These changes means millions of veterans will be able to get new benefits.

Why has this taken so long to pass?

There are two answers here.

The longer answer: This bill has been years in the making. Activists have pushed the federal government for decades to recognize the health problems of those who worked around burn pits. Affected individuals and devoted allies, including former “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart, have raised the profile ([link removed]) and momentum for this issue with consistent advocacy. But that has taken time.

The shorter one: The bill hit a series of unusual snags this year.

The first is what’s known as a “blue-slip” issue. When the Senate first passed this bill in June, it then went to the House. But after passage there, clerks realized it included a provision that would raise some revenue. The U.S. Constitution spells out that those bills must start in the House. Thus, the process had to go through another round of votes.

That small section was taken out, and the bill was passed by the House again.

When it returned to the Senate, initially it looked like it would be on a glide path. Eighty-four senators had supported it in the first vote. But last week, 25 of them switched to “no.”

But why? Two factors:
1. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., had been pushing his fellow Republicans to switch their votes, hoping to negotiate a change in the bill. Toomey and others believe that the way this bill is funded could lead to an unintentional spending spike by the Department of Veterans Affairs in the future. Supporters adamantly disagree. But Toomey says he was changing minds. A Republican source familiar sent us an email Toomey’s office sent around last Wednesday morning, aiming to gather more ground with his argument.
2. Republican sources also admit that at least some senators switched their vote as a form of protest over separate action from Democratic Sens. Schumer and Manchin, who announced last week a surprise $700 billion deal on climate, health care and reducing the deficit. This was a deal nearly all Republicans opposed and had thought was dead.

What happens now?

A final vote on the PACT Act is scheduled for tonight ([link removed]) , and it’s expected to pass. The bill would then head for a presidential signature. Once that happens, some programs go into effect Oct. 1.

THE NEXT FEW DAYS IN THE SENATE

August has rarely been so hot or so busy in the U.S. Senate. And that is not a low bar to clear.

Here is a quick cheat sheet looking at what we know about the timing ahead.

Today. PACT Act passage expected.
Forecast: Sunny skies for this bill after weeks of squalls.

Wednesday. This day could see the start of debate on NATO expansion to include Finland and Sweden. That idea is widely expected to pass, but has enough opposition, prominently from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo ([link removed]) ., that it could take some time to finalize. That means the NATO vote is “fluid.”
Forecast: Windy, unpredictable weather patterns for this bill, but it’s expected to pass undamaged by next week.

Thursday. Democratic leadership wants to begin debate on the Schumer/Manchin $700 billion deal, called the Inflations Reduction Act, this day. That is ambitious. It is not yet clear if Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., will be able to get on board and her vote is decisive.
Forecast: Cloudy skies hover for a few days, then a rainbow is likely to appear by the weekend. Expect final passage this weekend or next week.

A PRIMARY POSTCARD FROM KANSAS
By Matt Loffman, @mattloff ([link removed])
Politics Producer

Kansas may be the Sunflower State, but what greeted our PBS NewsHour team during a recent drive from Kansas City to Topeka to Wichita and back again were campaign signs. Lots of them.

There were billboards, too, many featuring the familiar image of Rosie the Riveter — updated for a 21st century campaign.
A billboard in Kansas City, Kansas, urges people to vote "no" on a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would assert there is no right to abortion. Photo by Gabriella Borter/Reuters

Seeing so many signs isn’t that unusual in the days before a primary election ([link removed]) , but what made Kansas different is these didn’t feature the names of candidates. Instead there was a sea of lavender ([link removed]) urging people to “Vote Yes” with as many blue and yellow “Vote No” signs.

Nearly every neighborhood had some indication of Tuesday’s vote on a constitutional amendment ([link removed]) on abortion -- the first such vote anywhere in the country following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. If passed with a “yes” vote, the amendment would change the state constitution to say there is no right to an abortion, which would allow the Republican-controlled state legislature to implement new restrictions and potentially a total ban on the procedure.

People on different sides are fired up. In our on-air report ([link removed]) , we talked to leaders and volunteers for the “Value Them Both” coalition, which is urging a “yes” vote, and Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, which is pushing for the “no” side.

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Abortion rights will be on the ballot in at least fives states this year, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. The NewsHour’s Ali Rogin reports from Kansas.

But what was difficult to get across is just how pervasive the debate has become. It seems everyone is aware of the vote, and many are ready to tell you what they think without even being prompted. As we checked into our hotel (after a 20-hour day), the woman behind the counter told us that she works two jobs and is nearing retirement, but is so concerned about her community and her grandkids’ future that she is also a first-time political candidate, spending her free time campaigning, both for herself and against the amendment.

It’s a sign of a new level of political engagement on issues that may be here to stay. By Monday morning, the Kansas secretary of state reported more than 270,000 people had cast a ballot by mail or in person, a 16 percent increase over the same point in 2020.

“This might be the moment when a whole class of voters come into the electorate for good because they can see how important state politics and policy is,” Neal Allen, the chair of the political science department at Wichita State University, told us.

That was certainly true for Kim Biagioli, a lawyer and mother of two from the Kansas City suburbs, who we featured in our report. She’s a first-time political volunteer who has been knocking doors for the “vote no” campaign. Now that she’s started, she’s ready to keep going.

“I really do look forward to finding issues in the future that I support,” she told us. “It has to be an issue I really support because canvasing is a lot of work, but I definitely -- now that I've done it, I definitely see myself staying involved.”

#POLITICSTRIVIA
By Matt Loffman, @mattloff ([link removed])
Politics Producer

As we discussed above, Kansas is the first state to hold a vote on abortion rights since the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

Our question: As of Aug. 2, how many states have already certified abortion-related ballot measures for the November election?

Send your answers to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: Who was appointed as the first postmaster general?

The answer: Benjamin Franklin ([link removed]) . In 1775, the Second Continental Congress established a postal system, with Franklin as the first postmaster general.

Congratulations to our winners: Tom Holston and Nicholas D. Mertes!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.
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