S. 77Senate113th Congress (2013-2015)In Committee

Prescription Drug and Health Improvement Act of 2013

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SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Finance Committee

January 23, 2013

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

January 23, 2013

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Finance Committee

January 23, 2013

Floor Debate

1 member

What members said about S. 77 on the floor

1 Democrat

Rep. Alan S. LowenthalD-CA-47 · Nov 18, 2013

Mr. Speaker, the recent opening of the $340-million Gov. George Deukmejian Courthouse in Long Beach is the culmination of nearly a decade of work. Part of the Los Angeles County Superior Court…

Mr. Speaker, the recent opening of the $340-million Gov. George Deukmejian Courthouse in Long Beach is the culmination of nearly a decade of work. Part of the Los Angeles County Superior Court System, the new 531,000-square-foot glass-and-concrete structure replaces the current 55-year-old Long Beach courthouse that is the most outdated in the state and has been deemed seismically unfit.

The new Deukmejian Courthouse is 65 percent larger than the old courthouse, with 24 courtrooms and room to expand to 30. It is equipped with wireless Internet access throughout and space for five retail vendors to service the courthouse traffic.

For me, the road to the new Courthouse began nearly a decade ago in conversations between Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, Long Beach Mayors Beverly O'Neill and Bob Foster, myself and the then- presiding judge of the Long Beach courthouse, Brad Andrews. Judge Andrew's vision of a new courthouse for Long Beach was the driving force behind the building of a coalition of supporters for the project. This coalition would eventually grow to include a vast number of supporters including members of the public, the private sector and government. I am proud to count myself among the early members of this group.

Those early discussions about a new courthouse revolved around the understanding that under the existing state funding and procurement system, it would be 15-20 years before a new Long Beach courthouse could be built.

As this core group grew, it became clear that a public private partnership would be necessary to fund the project as the state could not expend the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to build the courthouse.

With support primarily from Assemblymember Hector De La Torre, and California State Senators Joe Dunn, Dick Ackerman and Don Perata, I introduced in the California State Budget Act of 2007, Senate Bill 77 which granted the authority for the Judicial Council and Administrative Office of the Courts to investigate the use of a public-private partnership in the development of the Long Beach project.

The Long Beach courthouse is the first to be built as a public- private funding partnership, with the developer, Long Beach Judicial Partners, paying for the upfront construction costs.

The new building is an example of what can be accomplished when the state, county and local governments work together to accomplish something that the whole community can be proud of. Our new courthouse is beautiful. It will act as a magnet for further development in the area for years to come while serving as a shining example of cooperation and innovation.

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued January 23, 2013

113th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 77

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

January 23 (legislative day, January 3), 2013

Mr. Franken (for himself and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend part D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate for lower prices for Medicare prescription drugs.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Prescription Drug and Health Improvement Act of 2013.

Negotiating fair prices for medicare prescription drugs

(a)

Negotiating fair prices

(1)

In general

Section 1860D–11 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–111) is amended by striking subsection (i) (relating to noninterference) and by inserting the following:

(i)

Authority To negotiate prices with manufacturers

In order to ensure that beneficiaries enrolled under prescription drug plans and MA–PD plans pay the lowest possible price, the Secretary shall have authority similar to that of other Federal entities that purchase prescription drugs in bulk to negotiate contracts with manufacturers of covered part D drugs, consistent with the requirements and in furtherance of the goals of providing quality care and containing costs under this part.

(2)

Effective date

The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.

(b)

Biannual reports to Congress

Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 6 months thereafter, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall submit to Congress a report on the negotiations conducted by the Secretary under section 1860D–11(i) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–111(i)), as amended by subsection (a), including a description of how such negotiations are achieving lower prices for covered part D drugs (as defined in section 1860D–2(e) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–102(e))) for Medicare beneficiaries.