{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221021104/http://www.vitter.senate.gov/newsroom/press/vitter-continues-efforts-to-eliminate-obamacare-exemption-for-washington", "Vitter Continues Efforts to Eliminate Obamacare Exemption for Washington", "2013-11-07", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "LA", "David Vitter", "V000127", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Vitter Continues Efforts to Eliminate Obamacare Exemption for Washington\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPushes to pass his legislation to show which Members of Congress are exempting their staff\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThursday, November 7, 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 today continued his efforts to eliminate the Obamacare exemption for Washington. He spoke on the Senate floor about his efforts, including his work to ensure that Congress has to publically disclose anyone they are exempting from entering Obamacare. Vitter\u2019s \u201cShow Your Exemption Act\u201d, is a step in the process to getting a vote on \u201cNo Washington Exemption from Obamacare.\u201d\n\u201cThis information should absolutely be public, and making it public is a crucial step in ending the ridiculous exemption from Obamacare,\u201d Vitter said.   \nWatch Sen. Vitter\u2019s floor speech here.\nLast week Vitter introduced legislation called the \u201cShow Your Exemption\u201d Act which would require each Congressional office to make public which staff they deem \u201cofficial\u201d. All Members of Congress were tasked with designating their staff \u201cofficial\u201d or not. According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) ruling, \u201cofficial\u201d staff 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.\nVitter will continue working towards getting a vote on his \u201cNo Washington Exemption from Obamacare\u201d amendment, also known as the \u201cVitter Amendment,\u201d and he will also push for a vote on the \u201cShow Your Exemption Act\u201d as part of the either the Drug Quality and Security Act or if necessary, the National Defense Authorization Act.", 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/20140221021104/http://www.vitter.senate.gov/newsroom/press/vitter-continues-efforts-to-eliminate-obamacare-exemption-for-washington"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.03629769384861, "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"}