Health care, climate change on front burner in D.C.

By Lisa Mascaro

Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 | 9:40 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Greetings, Early Liners. Today just might be the day so many have been waiting for, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected to finish crafting the Senate's health care bill and send it over to the green shades for a price estimate.

Reid's is scheduled to meet the press in just a few hours to provide an update.

Health care continues to dominate on the Hill, as both the House and Senate inch closer to voting day (or voting weeks. We're expecting at least two weeks of floor debate in the Senate.)

But that doesn't mean other business is grinding to a halt. The debate on climate change opens this week in the Senate Energy and Public Works Committee with several days of testimony.

Also on tap this week is an effort by the Senate to extend unemployment insurance -- which is important in the Las Vegas area where the jobless rate is pushing toward 14 percent. Congress also continues to consider extending the first-time homebuyers' tax credit, even after it was reported last week there is widespread fraud in the program.

Demcoratic Rep. Shelley Berkley is working on a bill to extend the estate tax that expires at the end of this year.

And later this week, the Democratic Rep. Dina Titus will have a front row seat to OSHA reforms as the House Education and Labor Committee (on which she serves) takes up the Occuaptional Health and Safety Administration's blistering review of Nevada OSHA.

That's all for now. Check back later for all the political news from Nevada.