{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://messer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=723", "Messer Pushes to Repeal Obamacare Individual Mandate in Final Tax Bill", "2017-12-12", "2017", "2017-12", "Republican", "House", "IN", "Luke Messer", "M001189", "messer.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. (Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017) \u2014 U.S. Rep. Luke Messer (IN-06) recently sent a letter urging members of the tax cut bill Conference Committee to repeal the Obamacare individual mandate as part of the final bill.\r\n          share:\r\n          f \r\n          t \r\n        \r\n      \r\n      WASHINGTON, D.C. (Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017) \u2014 U.S. Rep. Luke Messer (IN-06) recently sent a\u00a0letter\u00a0urging members of the tax cut bill Conference Committee to repeal\u00a0the Obamacare individual mandate as part of the final bill.\r\nThe U.S. Senate included the individual mandate repeal in its plan, but it was not part of the House-passed version.\r\nThe Obamacare individual mandate\u00a0requires U.S. citizens to have health insurance or pay a fine. This year, the minimum fine was $695 per adult. According to the\u00a0Internal Revenue Service, nearly 140,000 Hoosiers paid the individual mandate penalty in 2015. Of those, more than 80 percent had incomes less than $50,000.\r\n\"The Obamacare individual mandate is a tax on low and middle income Hoosiers, plain and simple,\"\u00a0Messer\u00a0said. \"It's outrageous\u00a0that the federal government continues to penalize folks who can't afford Obamacare's skyrocketing health insurance premiums. We should immediately repeal\u00a0this burdensome Obamacare mandate and deliver much-needed relief to middle-class Hoosiers. Our best shot at accomplishing\u00a0this is to include it in the final tax cut plan.\"\r\nThe Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation recently estimated that eliminating the individual mandate would reduce federal budget deficits by $338 billion over the next ten years.\r\n\u201cUntil enactment of Obamacare, the federal government had never required individuals, as a condition of lawful residence in the United States, to purchase a product from a private company,\u201d the letter, which was signed by more than 70 House members, reads.\r\nMesser has consistently fought for the repeal of the individual mandate and supported President Trump\u2019s calls for its repeal in November.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://messer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=723"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2358138337731361, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}