WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Friday released the following statement after the Senate Parliamentarian ruled a provision in the initial version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act that provided targeted benefits for the state of New York failed the so-called Byrd Rule and is thus subject to a 60-vote threshold. The "Buffalo Bribe," as the provision is known, is similar to state-specific provisions included in the latest version of the Republican health care bill. The parliamentarian's ruling places such provisions in severe jeopardy, meaning Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) cannot rely on giveaways to buy votes.

"Republicans have given up on good policy, so they turned to legislative giveaways instead. Today's ruling by the parliamentarian means they can't count on the Polar Payoff, Bayou Bailout, or Sunshine Sellout to do their whipping for them. We should be better than this," said Murphy. "This is the very definition of putting politics over people. I'm already working with my colleagues on amendments to strip these unfair giveaways from this disaster of a bill. After this bill fails, we can start over and work together on solutions that can pass on the merits."

Murphy lambasted Senate Republicans in a speech on the Senate floor yesterday, for making changes to the bill – such as those that would benefit only Alaska, Louisiana, Montana, and Florida – not to improve policy, but to try to win individual votes. Murphy said, “Behind closed doors, small changes are being made to this bill to try to win the votes of individual senators, giving them specific amounts of money for their state – and their state alone – in order to win their vote. That is shameful. My constituents in Connecticut deserve to have a voice in how one-fifth of the American economy is going to be transformed.”