After months of delays, on June 15, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed H.R. 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, by a vote of 53 to 0. Representative Tim Murphy (R-PA) originally introduced the legislation in 2013, but the measure stalled over objections from both sides of the aisle. In recent months, Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) worked to change the bill significantly to smooth over areas of objection and move the bill forward. The bill is expected to be voted on by the House sometime this week.

Democrats hailed the bill's progress out of committee as a good first step, but noted that more funding is needed to truly address the challenge of mental illness. The House's most recent changes to the bill have made it more like the Senate bill, S. 2680, which is sponsored by Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA), Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), among others. S. 2680 was approved by the Senate HELP Committee on March 16.

Takeaway: While passage in the House Energy and Commerce Committee is encouraging for supporters of the legislation, during markup a number of Democratic amendments were rejected on party-line votes, indicating the proposals may present a challenge passage of the bill on the House floor.