Senate to vote on exempting veterans from employer mandate

Meanwhile, USA Today looks at Congress' failure to pass legislation that would address the fragmentation of mental health services following the 2012 shootings in Newtown, Conn., and Sen. Lindsey Graham plans to push a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The Hill:  Reid Sets Up Vote On O-Care Tweak 
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) set up a procedural vote on a House bill that would allow companies not to treat veterans as full-time employees under the Obamacare employer mandate. On Thursday, Reid filed cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3474, the Hire More Heroes Act of 2014, meaning the first procedural vote on that measure could take place next Tuesday or Wednesday (Cox, 5/8).

USA Today: Congressmen Introduce Competing Mental Health Bills
In the weeks after the shootings in Newtown, Conn., many mental health advocates hoped that the tragedy would lead Congress to address problems in the country's fragmented mental health system. Nearly a year and a half later -- and in spite of several additional shootings -- Congress has yet to pass major mental health reforms (Szabo, 5/8).

Politico: Graham Plans Push On Abortion Bill 
Senate Republicans, led by Lindsey Graham, are planning to ramp up their advocacy for an abortion bill around the high-profile anniversary of a former abortion provider's murder conviction. The South Carolina Republican is organizing a group of his colleagues to speak in support of a bill that would federally ban abortions after more than 20 weeks of pregnancy, legislation that has the support of 41 Senate Republicans and has already passed the House. Graham is centering this legislative push on the May 13 anniversary of Kermit Gosnell's conviction for killing infants that were born alive (Everett, 5/8).