House Republican Fall Jobs Agenda

House Republicans are committed to creating an environment that empowers the entrepreneur and fosters job creation. This fall, House Republicans will pursue an agenda to tackle government overregulation and provide tax relief to help increase business confidence and create middle-class jobs. Recently, the House passed the Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act (H.R. 2587), which would prohibit the National Labor Relations Board from ordering any employer to relocate, shut down or transfer employment and the Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation (TRAIN) Act, which delays two regulations that could drive up energy and electricity costs for working families and businesses until a full analysis on their economic impact can be conducted. In the coming weeks and months House Republicans will be taking additional steps to help create jobs, increase certainty and spur economic growth. They include:

• Boiler MACT: These new stringent rules from the EPA will impose billions of dollars in capital and compliance costs, increase the cost of many goods and services and put over 200,000 jobs at risk. H.R. 2250, the EPA Regulatory Relief Act, sponsored by Rep. Morgan Griffith (VA), would provide a legislative stay of four interrelated rules issued by the EPA in March of this year. The legislation would also provide the EPA with at least 15 months to re-propose and finalize new, achievable rules that do not destroy jobs, and provide employers with an extended compliance period.

• Cement MACT: The "cement MACT" and two related rules are expected to affect approximately 100 cement plants in America, setting exceedingly stringent requirements that will be cost-prohibitive or technically infeasible to achieve. Increased costs and regulatory uncertainty for the American cement industry—the foundation of nearly all infrastructure projects—are likely to offshore thousands of American jobs. H.R. 2681, the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act, sponsored by Rep. John Sullivan (OK), would provide a legislative stay of these three rules and provide EPA with at least 15 months to re-propose and finalize new, achievable rules that do not destroy jobs, and provide employers with an extended compliance period.

• Coal Ash: These anti-infrastructure regulations, commonly referred to as the "coal ash" rules, will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, affecting everything from concrete production to building products like wall board. The result is an estimated loss of well over 100,000 jobs. H.R. 2273, the Coals Residuals Reuse and Management Act, sponsored by Rep. David McKinley (WV), would create an enforceable minimum standard for the regulation of coal ash by the states, allowing their use in a safe manner that protects jobs.

• Grandfathered Health Plans: We all remember when President Obama promised Americans that if they liked their health care plan they could keep it. Now, the Obama Administration has been issuing further restrictions against those previously protected plans. The result, by the Administration's own estimates, will be a loss of 49 to 80 percent of small employer plans, 34 to 64 percent of large employer plans, and 40 to 67 percent of individual insurance plans. Meanwhile, employers losing their grandfathered status will face steep penalties, increasing their costs and negatively affecting wages and job growth. The Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Education and Workforce committees will soon be working on legislation to repeal these ObamaCare restrictions.

• Farm Dust: The EPA is expected to issue revised standards for particulate matter (PM) in the near future. Any downward revision to PM standards will significantly impact economic growth and jobs for businesses and people throughout rural America that create dust. H.R. 1633, the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act, sponsored by Rep. Kristi Noem (SD) would protect American farmers and jobs by establishing a one year prohibition against revising any national ambient air quality standard applicable to coarse PM and limiting federal regulation of dust where it is already regulated under state and local laws.

• Greenhouse Gas: The EPA's upcoming greenhouse gas new source performance standards (NSPS) will affect new and existing oil, natural gas, and coal-fired power plants, as well as oil refineries, nationwide. While the impact on the economy and jobs are likely to be severe, the rules are quickly moving forward, once again revealing the Administration's disregard for the consequences of their policies on our jobs crisis. Again, I expect Chairman Upton and the Energy and Commerce Committee to move swiftly in the coming months to protect American jobs and consumers.

• NLRB's Ambush Elections: This summer, the NLRB issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that could significantly alter current union representation election procedures, giving both employers and employees little time to react to union formations in the future. The result will increase labor costs and uncertainty for nearly all private employers in the U.S. The House will soon consider legislation that will bring common sense to union organizing procedures to protect the interests of both employers and their workers.

• 3% Withholding Rule Repeal: Beginning in 2013, federal, state, and local governments will be required to withhold three percent of all government payments made to contractors in excess of $100 million. While the law has been delayed multiple times, its effect once implemented will be massive—causing accounting burdens on governments and potentially harmful cash flow disruptions for contractors and subcontractors across all sectors. Therefore, we will move quickly this fall to repeal this burdensome requirement and relieve construction contractors, medical providers, manufacturers, farmers, and many others providing goods and services under government contracts of the uncertainty the impending law is creating.

• 20% Small Business Tax Deduction: Small businesses employ about half of all Americans, yet President Obama is proposing federal tax rates that could take away more than 40 percent of their income. While the previous Democrat majority was pushing through their nearly $1 trillion stimulus, we began work on a proposal to allow small business people to take a tax deduction equal to 20% of their income. The goal was simple—immediately free up funds for small business people to retain and hire new employees, and reinvest in and grow their businesses. In light of the stimulus's failure, and our current position in the majority, I expect the House to move quickly in the coming months on this common sense and pro-growth small business proposal to create middle-class jobs.