{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20131119230808/http://www.vitter.senate.gov:80/newsroom/press/vitter-gives-reid-3-options-for-vote-on-show-your-exemption-act", "Vitter Gives Reid 3 Options for Vote on \u201cShow Your Exemption Act\u201d", "2013-11-14", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "LA", "David Vitter", "V000127", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Vitter Gives Reid 3 Options for Vote on \u201cShow Your Exemption Act\u201d\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tReid, Democrats block each option, remain persistent to keep their Obamacare exemption and keep exemptions hidden from public\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThursday, November 14, 2013\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t(Washington, D.C.) \u2013 U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) asked for unanimous consent agreements to have a vote on his legislation called the \u201cShow Your Exemption Act\u201d which would require each Congressional office to publically disclose who they are exempting from entering the Obamacare exchange. He offered to have a vote on the legislation as an amendment to the Compounding Pharmacies bill, the National Defense Authorization Act or as standalone legislation.\n\u201cThe fact that Harry Reid is going to such lengths to block even this disclosure vote says it all: As Americans face mass cancellations and huge premium increases, his top priority is to protect the Washington exemption from Obamacare,\u201d Vitter said. \u201cI'll continue to demand votes on this issue as opportunities arise \u2013 and they will \u2013 including as next year's election approaches.\u201d\nVitter has been working on legislation dubbed the \u201cVitter Amendment\u201d, which would eliminate the Obamacare exemption for Washington altogether by clarifying that all Members of Congress, congressional staff, the President, Vice President and political appointees must purchase their health plans on the exchange. It would also require that they receive the same amount of financial support from tax credits or subsidies as any American outside of Washington. Reid has blocked every attempt for a vote on this.\nRelated to that, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives were both recently tasked with designating their staff \u201cofficial\u201d or not. According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) ruling, staff in an \u201cofficial office\u201d must enter the Obamacare exchange. Staff who are not designated \u201cofficial\u201d keep their current plan on the Federal Employee Benefit Program. The Obamacare statue clearly states that all Members of Congress and their staffs are to procure their health insurance through the Obamacare Exchange. However, the OPM ruling created a loophole that allows Members to designate some staff as not \u201cofficial\u201d in order to exempt them from the exchange.\nThe amendment Vitter asked for unanimous consent on today would simply require information on those designations to be made public.", 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://web.archive.org/web/20131119230808/http://www.vitter.senate.gov:80/newsroom/press/vitter-gives-reid-3-options-for-vote-on-show-your-exemption-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4829067513346672, "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"}