Three Va. House Democrats undecided on health-care

Three of the six Democrats in Virginia's U.S. House delegation remain undecided heading into this weekend's pivotal vote on President Barack Obama's 10-year, $1.2 trillion health-care overhaul.

A fourth, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, D-11th, wants to listen to the debate but is leaning toward supporting the bill, his spokesman said.

The Virginians conferred with constituents yesterday as House Democratic leaders acknowledged that they don't yet have the 218 votes they need to pass the health-care package. House Democrats signaled that they might delay the vote until tomorrow or early next week.

Obama is heading to Capitol Hill today to meet with Democrats, who have not yet resolved intraparty disputes over abortion funding and illegal immigrants' access to medical coverage.

The five Republicans in Virginia's House delegation oppose the health-care overhaul. Two Democrats, Rep. Robert C. Scott, D-3rd, and James P. Moran, D-8th, are on record as supporting the president's proposal.

That has put the spotlight on the four remaining Democrats.

Three of them, Reps. Tom Perriello, D-5th, Glenn Nye, D-2nd and Connolly were elected in November 2008 as Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry Virginia in 44 years. All three won seats that had been held by Republicans.

All three also serve districts carried Tuesday by Republican Bob McDonnell, now Virginia's governor-elect. So does Rep. Rick Boucher, D-9th, who also remains undecided on the health-care bill, according to his spokeswoman, Courtney Lamie. Boucher represents Southwest Virginia.

Nye, who represents Virginia Beach and parts of Norfolk and Hampton, "has not yet reached a decision about where he is going to be on this specific bill," said his spokesman, Clark Pettig.

Nye says he is working to prevent the loss of up to $20 million in funding for Norfolk's Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters as a result of broader cuts in the House version of the legislation.

He submitted an amendment yesterday to the House Rules Committee that would exempt children's hospitals from cuts in supplemental funding provided to hospitals that treat large numbers of Medicaid patients.

"These cuts would unfairly harm children's hospitals, and I believe this problem should be fixed before the health-care bill moves forward," Nye said in a statement.

Meantime, as of yesterday afternoon, Perriello was "still reviewing the proposal and taking feedback from constituents," said his spokeswoman, Jessica Barba.

Perriello, whose district stretches from Charlottesville south to the North Carolina line, told reporters Oct. 30 that changes in the bill "move us in the right direction." He said the changes had addressed many of the requests that Perriello and nine other House freshmen, including Connolly, expressed in a September letter to House Democratic leaders, "such as extending the life of Medicare, addressing tort reform, and ensuring deficit neutrality."

"I've been working hard to get to 'yes' because the status quo is simply unsustainable and unacceptable, and we must do more to bring down costs for middle-class families and businesses without increasing the federal deficit," Perriello said at the time.

Connolly, who represents Fairfax and Prince William counties, is leaning toward supporting the legislation because he's "an advocate of responsible health-care reform," said his spokesman, George Burke.

Asked whether the president's trip to Capitol Hill will influence Perriello, his spokeswoman said that the congressman is focusing on his constituents in the 5th District.

"Those are the people he represents, not the president," she said.

Contact Andrew Cain at (804) 649-6645 or .

The Associated Press contributed to this report.