Last week, the Senate Finance Committee rejected an amendment by Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) that would have required the committee to post the complete legislative language of its health care reform bill online 72 hours before voting on the legislation, National Journal reports.
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) called the amendment a delay tactic, while Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) criticized Democrats for opposing the provision.
Instead, the committee approved an amendment from Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) that requires the committee to post online the "conceptual language" of the bill, which many say is easier for laypeople to understand.
Mark DiMassimo, co-founder of a group called Read to Vote, said, "Posting the bill in conceptual language is a step in the right direction, but posting the legislative language is a step even further in the right direction" (Plautz, National Journal, 9/28).