Wallace claims water allocations, bank provision are “special deals” in health care bill

Wallace cites “special deals” that are “still in the bill.” On the March 21 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, Wallace asked Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), "[D]idn't Speaker Pelosi end up using a lot of taxpayer money to buy votes for this bill?" Wallace listed what he claimed were “special deals” that would ensure passage of the health care reform bill, citing as examples “the one deal for the one bank in North Dakota” and “more water supplies for farmers in central California.”

Will brings water-allocation conspiracy theory to ABC. Appearing on This Week, Washington Post columnist George Will stated, “Now, I understand politics is a transactional business, but some of the transactions in this -- are you a little all embarrassed about water suddenly being released to the California valley because of health care?”

Provision benefiting Bank of North Dakota is not “in the bill”

Manager's amendment removed state-owned bank provision. A proposal that would have exempted state-owned banks from a provision to eliminate federal subsidies for private lenders -- originally contained on Page 145 of the reconciliation bill -- was removed from the reconciliation bill that will be voted on by the House. From the manager's amendment:

Page 145, beginning on line 18, strike section 2213 (and redesignate the succeeding section accordingly).

Politics Daily: "Special Provision for North Dakota Bank Removed From Health Bill." A March 18 Politics Daily article reported that “Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) Thursday sought the removal of a special provision he had written into the package of fixes to the Senate health care bill that would have applied only to the Bank of North Dakota. The provision would have allowed the Bank of North Dakota to continue to originate and service student loans even though a pending overhaul says that all such loans will originate through the U.S. Department of Education, beginning July 1.”

NPR: “OUT: A student-loan provision for North Dakota, from Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND).” A March 19 National Public Radio article provided examples of “what's in, what's out and why” and reported that the “student-loan provision for North Dakota” is “out.” According to the article, “when the exemption became controversial, Conrad asked the House to remove it.”

Increased water allocation is not “in the bill”: DOI announced it as a result of increased winter rain and improved storage in California

DOI: “Interior Announces Increased Water Supply Allocations in California.” A decision to increase water allocation for farmers in California's Central Valley is not “in the bill,” as Wallace claimed. The U.S. Interior Department announced increased water supply allocations, citing “additional precipitation, improved snowpack, and improved storage at Shasta Reservoir.” From a March 16 Department of the Interior press release:

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced that the Bureau of Reclamation's 2010 Central Valley Project Water Supply allocations have increased throughout the valley as a result of additional precipitation, improved snowpack, and improved storage at Shasta Reservoir. As forecast by Reclamation on February 26, California is having a near-average water year following three years of drought.

The Department is deeply committed to working with all stakeholders to find solutions to the challenges -- both short term and long term -- facing water users throughout the Central Valley," said Secretary Salazar, who was joined on the teleconference by Deputy Secretary David J. Hayes and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Mike Connor. “In this case, we accelerated our reporting of updated allocations, hoping to get the best available information to agricultural water service contractors as quickly as possible. This allocation update shows improvements from the previous allocation -- just as we hoped in our recent announcement.

WSJ: Salazar said, ”Winter rains have helped replenish the state's biggest reservoir." In a March 17 article, The Wall Street Journal noted that California's Central Valley had been experiencing severe drought and that the “increase is made possible, Mr. Salazar said, in part because winter rains have helped replenish the state's biggest reservoir, Lake Shasta, which now stands at 81% of capacity, compared with 55% a year ago.” Salazar also “said he moved up the announcement by a week or so 'because people on the ground and farming need to have certainty.' ” The Journal reported that Salazar's announcement “further eas[ed] drought concerns in a state where El Niño rains have raised the mountain snowpack after three severely dry years.”

AP: “Interior secretary: Recent storms mean California farmers, cities will get more water.” In a March 17 article, the Associated Press wrote, “A series of drenching storms have replenished many of California's reservoirs, freeing up more water for parched farms and cities throughout the state, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Tuesday.”