Protecting America’s Workers: House GOP Workforce Accomplishments of the 108^th Congress

UPDATED: October 7, 2004  

• From job training reform and pension protection to health care access, welfare reform, and worker safety, House Republicans in the 108^th Congress have worked tirelessly to bring security and opportunity to American families in a changing economy.

Protecting America’s Workers: House GOP Workforce Accomplishments  

• Strengthening job training for American workers.  In March 2004, testifying before the House Education & the Workforce Committee, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan said strengthening worker training and education programs is critical to putting Americans back to work and creating high-wage American jobs.  In May 2003, the House approved the Workforce Reinvestment & Adult Education Act (H.R. 1261), introduced by Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), which would strengthen the nation’s job training system and benefit more than 18 million American workers.  Senate Democrat leaders, unfortunately, have indicated they will fight to keep the measure from reaching the President’s desk.  Why?  Because it allows faith-based organizations to participate in federal job training programs without surrendering their religious identities, and because it streamlines duplicative bureaucracies.  On June 3, 2004 , the House appointed conferees on this important bill – but by refusing to move to conference on comprehensive job training reforms, Senate Democrat leaders are denying new and expanded job training opportunities to millions of Americans seeking new and better jobs.

• Providing personal reemployment accounts.  The Worker Reemployment Accounts Act, introduced by Rep. Jon Porter (R-NV), offers new assistance for unemployed workers.  Similar to a pilot proposal offered by President Bush earlier this year, the bill allows demonstration and pilot project funding under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to be used by states and local workforce investment boards to offer personal reemployment accounts (PRAs) of up to $3,000 to help unemployed Americans return to work quickly.  PRAs offer a new, innovative approach designed to provide unemployed Americans additional flexibility, greater choice, and more control over their employment search, as well as a reemployment bonus for those who find a job quickly.  With the funds from these accounts, unemployed workers may purchase a variety of employment-related services (such as job training, child care, transportation, career counseling, relocation services, and case management) to help them find a new job and reenter the workforce.  The House passed this critical measure on June 3, 2004 .

• Protecting workers’ retirement savings.  House and Senate members have worked to help worker pension plans stay afloat in the short-term while Congress looks at broader long-term reforms to reform and strengthen the defined benefit system.  To provide security and stability to worker pension plans, the House and Senate agreed to bipartisan legislation – the Pension Funding Equity Act (H.R. 3108) – to provide a short-term replacement for the current 30-year Treasury bond interest rate that is used by many employers to calculate the amount of money they must set aside in their employee pension plans.  President Bush signed the measure into law on April 10, 2004 .  House Republicans are hard at work on long-term reforms, and Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH) recently outlined six principles that should guide congressional efforts to protect worker retirement security and modernize America ’s pension laws.  Moreover, on May 14, 2003 , the Republican-led House addressed important 401(k) reforms by passing the Pension Security Act (H.R. 1000), which would give workers unprecedented new retirement security protections.  The bill – passed originally by Republicans in 2002 in the wake of the Enron collapse, but stonewalled by Democrat leaders – would give workers new freedom to diversify their retirement savings within three years; expand worker access to investment advice to help them manage their retirement accounts; empower workers to hold company insiders accountable for abuses; and give workers better information about their pensions.  

• Expanding worker access to quality health care.  On June 19, 2003 , House Republicans (along with 36 Democrats who broke with their leadership) passed the Small Business Health Fairness Act (H.R. 660), a measure strongly supported by President Bush that will significantly expand access to health coverage for uninsured families across the country.  The bill creates Association Health Plans (AHPs), which allow small businesses to band together through associations and purchase quality health care for workers and their families at a lower cost.  The bill would increase small businesses’ bargaining power with health care providers, give them freedom from costly state-mandated benefit packages, and lower their overhead costs by as much as 30 percent to help employers to provide quality health benefits for workers.  The House passed the measure again on May 13, 2004 , to demonstrate its commitment to helping the millions of Americans who have no health insurance.

• Protecting the employment rights and benefits of veterans and reservists.  House Republicans have worked vigorously to protect the employment rights and benefits of service men and women returning to civilian life.  The 1994 Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) provides veterans and reservists returning from active duty with reemployment rights and protects them against discrimination by their employer on the basis of their recently completed military service or current military obligations.  It also requires that reservists and service members returning from active duty who are reemployed by their previous civilian employers be given all the benefits of such employment as if they had been continuously employed and not served on active duty.  After prodding from congressional Republicans, the Labor Department on September 20, 2004 , proposed new rules to clarify and strengthen employment protections for veterans and reservists returning from active duty. The Department also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Justice to strengthen enforcement and protect the benefits available under USERRA, ensuring faster resolution of cases and quicker enforcement action by the government when necessary.

• Strengthening welfare reform.  One of the most successful social policies ever enacted, the 1996 welfare reforms have transformed the lives of millions of families and helped them achieve self-sufficiency.  On February 13, 2003 , the House passed the Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act (H.R. 4) to build upon the 1996 reforms.  The measure, based on President Bush’s reform blueprint, strengthens work requirements under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program to help move more welfare recipients into productive jobs and boosts child care funding.

• Updating outdated labor laws to guaranteeing overtime protections for millions of Americans.  Because the regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that govern the workplace had not been substantially changed in 54 years, the Department of Labor successfully led an effort to update complex, decades-old regulations that denied overtime pay to someone earning as little as $8,060 a year.  The Department’s final rule, which went into effect on August 23, 2004 , raised this level almost threefold and now ensures that ANYONE earning less than $23,660 annually is AUTOMATICALLY entitled to overtime.  Under the final rule, thousands of workers have become immediately eligible for overtime pay, and the evidence suggests employers are providing overtime to these workers and increasing worker pay.  Some partisans attempted to paint this rule as an attack on workers, falsely claiming that it eliminated overtime pay.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The final rule strengthened overtime protections for police officers, fire fighters, paramedics, EMTs, first responders, and licensed practical nurses, ensuring that workers in these occupations do not lose their overtime.  In addition, the rule addressed concerns that veterans could lose their right to overtime, ensuring that veteran status does not affect overtime pay.  Finally, it made clear that blue collar and union workers do not lose overtime, clearly stating that “blue collar” workers are entitled to overtime pay and that neither the FLSA nor the final rule relieved an employer from its contractual obligations under a collective bargaining agreement.  Republicans have led efforts to ensure these new worker overtime protections remain in place.

• Enhancing worker safety & fairness for small businesses.  On May 18, 2004 , the House passed four workers safety bills sponsored by Workforce Protections Subcommittee Chairman Charlie Norwood (R-GA) to improve worker safety by making it easier for employers to work voluntarily and proactively with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to ensure workplaces are as safe and secure as possible.  The measures ensure that OSHA enforcement efforts are fair for small businesses that make good faith efforts to comply with all health and safety laws. 

• Enhancing union accountability and union democracy.  On October 2, 2003, the Employer-Employee Relations Subcommittee passed three bills introduced by Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX) to ensure rank-and-file workers receive information on the rights guaranteed to them under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), the federal law that requires union leaders to make certain disclosures to union members about their democratic rights, including information about how member union dues are spent.  The Education & the Workforce Committee also completed an investigation into the questionable stock transactions at the union-owned life insurance company ULLICO Inc., questioning whether the scandal-plagued company violated federal labor and pension laws and calling on the Department of Labor to fully investigate the matter.

• Letting busy working mothers and fathers choose more time with family.  On April 9, 2003, the Education & the Workforce Committee approved the Family Time Flexibility Act (H.R. 1119), introduced by Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL), which removes federal obstacles that prevent many employers from providing increased flexibility to their employees who are covered by the overtime provisions of existing law.  The bill would allow hourly workers to choose paid time off as compensation for working overtime hours instead of overtime pay if they want to spend more time with their families – a right government workers already have.

For more information on workforce issues, see http://edworkforce.house.gov/issues/issues.htm