Burgess Everett
Politico
October 21, 2013
Forget the
Vitter amendment. Rand Paul wants to make sure that Congress can’t ever again
write laws with provisions specific to lawmakers.
The Kentucky freshman Republican has introduced a constitutional amendment
that would preclude senators and congressmen from passing laws that don’t apply
equally to U.S. citizens and Congress, the executive branch and the Supreme
Court. The amendment is aimed squarely at Obamacare provisions specific to
members of Congress and their staffs that became a central point of contention
during the government shutdown.
Under Obamacare, Capitol Hill aides and lawmakers are required to enter the
law’s health exchanges and a summertime ruling from the Office of Personnel
Management ensured they will continue to receive federal employer contributions
to help pay for insurance on the exchanges. A number of lawmakers, specifically
Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), have been pushing for the end to those contributions,
arguing they amount to a Washington exemption from Obamacare. Vitter has drafted
legislative language that would eliminate these subsidies and tried to attach
the measure to an energy efficiency bill and pushed for it to be included in the
government funding bill last week.
Read more
Monday, October 21, 2013
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