December 2, 2011

Telephone Community Meeting

Thanks to those who have participated in my recent telephone community meetings or joined me on Monday evening at the Hyde Park Branch Library. I’ve enjoyed hearing from you and talking with you about the issues confronting Congress. If you haven’t had an opportunity to participate yet, we have one more telephone community meeting scheduled for Wednesday, December 7th from 6:50–7:50 PM. If you’d like to participate, just dial 1-877-229-8493 and use pin 13034 at the scheduled time to join the call. If you’d like to ask me a question, press *3 after joining the meeting.

Recent Votes

This week the House considered H.R. 3094: the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act. This legislation essentially places restrictions on union elections. It requires a waiting period before hearings on unionization or actual elections can take place, allowing employers to delay union elections. H.R. 3094 also allows employers to expand the eligible pool of workers beyond those who have expressed an interest in union activity. This gives employers the opportunity to bring the number of interested workers below the 30% threshold required to trigger an election. This bill is nothing more than an attempt to make it harder for workers to unionize. H.R. 3094 passed and the entire vote is recorded below:

The House also considered H.R. 3463, a combination of two previous bills: H.R. 672, which eliminates the Election Assistance Commission; and H.R. 359, which eliminates the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. The Election Assistance Commission acts as an election management resource for states and municipalities. It provides guidance on election law and other aspects of overseeing election processes. The Presidential Election Campaign Fund provides matching funds to Presidential candidates and has been in existence since Watergate. H.R. 3463 eliminates both initiatives and uses the money to pay for H.R. 527 and H.R. 3010 (more on them later). I voted NO. H.R. 3463 passed and the entire vote is recorded below:

The House on Thursday considered H.R. 527: The Regulatory Flexibility Act. This legislation gives the Small Business Administration (SBA) more authority over federal agencies when it comes to regulatory review requirements. It increases the work that agencies must do before they can issue new regulations and requires agencies to study any “indirect” costs that the regulations may trigger. H.R. 527 also allows the SBA to intervene in rulemaking and makes it easier for small businesses to challenge regulations. Basically, H.R. 527 seeks to weaken the regulatory authority of federal agencies. I voted NO. H.R. 527 passed and the entire vote is recorded below:

Finally, the House considered of H.R. 3010: the Regulatory Accountability Act. This legislation adds dozens of new requirements to the rulemaking processes of federal agencies and gives industries new avenues to raise questions about rulemaking during the development of those rules. H.R. 3010 seeks to hinder the ability of federal agencies to do their jobs, including environmental protection oversight and consumer protection. I voted NO. H.R. 3010 passed and the entire vote is recorded below:

What’s Up Next Week

As I am sure you are aware, the Super Committee could not reach agreement, which triggers $1.2 billion in cuts, set to go into effect in 2013. There will be much debate in the coming weeks and months over how to best deal with the aftermath of their failure to reach an agreement and put forth a proposal. In the meantime, the Fiscal Year 2012 budget is only funded through December 16th. In the weeks ahead, we can expect to see floor action on funding for the remainder of the fiscal year, although it is not clear at this point when that will happen. The extension of unemployment insurance for the long-term unemployed expires at the end of the year. The payroll tax exemption is also scheduled to expire. Both of those items could be taken up soon.