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Senator Brown says he’ll back health care reform compromise

US Sen. Sherrod Brown talks to business leaders before his speech at the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce government Affairs Breakfast at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Friday September 18, 2009.

Jim Noelker/Staff photographer US Sen. Sherrod Brown talks to business leaders before his speech at the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce government Affairs Breakfast at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Friday September 18, 2009.

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By Ken McCall, Staff Writer 10:39 PM Friday, January 15, 2010

DAYTON — Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown said that while he’s disappointed with aspects of health care reform, he will vote for any compromise between the House and Senate versions that negotiators can work out because it will be good for the nation.

“They’ll have my vote,” Brown said Friday, Jan. 15, during a meeting with the Dayton Daily News editorial board. “We’re going to get all this insurance reform that nobody thought we could get two years ago. I mean good insurance reform.”

While Brown said he’s disappointed that a so-called public option has been dropped and that it will take so long for some provisions to be implemented, he also pointed to a number of provisions that are long overdue, such as:

• Women will no longer have to pay more than men for the same coverage.

• Effective immediately, parents cannot lose their insurance because of a pre-existing condition of a child, and within three years pre-existing conditions will not be allowed to be considered.

• Older children can stay on their parents’ policy until they’re 26.

• Small businesses will immediately be eligible for “really good tax credits.”

Brown also said public opinion will turn favorable once people see that opponents’ misinformation and predictions don’t happen.

“First of all, people are going to see the sky doesn’t fall,” Brown said. “They’ll see that so much of this (criticism) is simply not based in fact. Then they’re going to see advantages coming from it, and the benefits.”

Brown said a lot of Republicans are afraid of the bill because they know it’s going to work.

“When it works, they’re going to have problems politically for a long time, just like they lost a big chunk of senior citizens’ votes for a generation because Medicare is so popular.”

Other issues on tap

On climate change, Brown said he doesn’t see Congress passing a bill this year.

“Health care was hard enough,” he said. “Climate change will be harder for a lot of reasons.”

Instead, he said, they’ll work to enact parts of legislation, including regulations that require utilities to increase production from renewable sources, and incentives for other clean energy businesses.

“Climate change legislation is ultimately a jobs bill if it’s done right,” he said.

Some of those incentives could be folded into a Obama administration jobs initiative set to be introduced next month, he said.

Brown said he agrees with economists who say that without the economic stimulus programs already enacted, the nation would be in much worse shape than it is. He also supports further stimulus spending in the form of tax breaks and better loan terms for small businesses, more highway spending and more Medicaid assistance for states.

“If we don’t do it, and the economy stays stagnant, it’s more money out the door for unemployment and lower tax receipts,” he said.

Brown said the state should know within a “few weeks” whether it gets $564 million for a high-speed passenger rail system from Cleveland to Cincinnati, through Columbus and Dayton.

“I’m optimistic,” he said. “But there are no promises.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2393 or kmccall @DaytonDailyNews.com.

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