U.S. House passes "Climate" bill, fate in Senate uncertain
The Union Agenda
Senate working on card check compromise that includes “mail-in” ballot and maintains arbitration
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports on organized labor's highest legislative priority in Congress, the Employee Free Choice Act (card check) bill under which a union would be certified if 50 percent of the workers sign cards. Currently, a majority vote in a secret-ballot election is required in most cases. The article notes that Sen. Dianne Feinstein is getting squeezed by business and organized labor over her neutrality on legislation that would make it easier for workers to form unions. Feinstein is part of a small group of senators led by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) that is trying to come up with a compromise. “I am working to find common ground between the needs of both business and labor in order to reach a bipartisan solution,” Feinstein said in a statement. “That ground is tough to find. Labor is wary of any changes in the legislation, and business maintains the differences on the issue are so great that there is little area for compromise.”
Proposed state measures on employee leave could reduce wages, benefits
The Wall Street Journal notes, “New and strengthened Democratic majorities in many state legislatures are pushing measures that require businesses to grant employees additional time off for personal or family reasons…Business advocates see such measures doing more harm than good for workers. To pay for additional benefits, employers may have to reduce wages or other benefits.”
Immigration Reform
White House says immigration reform unlikely this year
According to Roll Call the White House has acknowledged that immigration reform is unlikely to move in Congress this year. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday that despite “the President's desire for it to happen,” there was an understanding “that currently where we sit the math makes that real difficult.” Gibbs added, however, that Obama hopes that “later this year that we can have the beginning of formal debate on that.” Roll Call notes the President has consistently put other priorities – including energy and health care reform – ahead of an immigration bill, hoping to have both approved in 2009.
Financial Services Overhaul
Financial strategy favors unions and consumer groups
Dow Jones Newswires reports the Administration’s financial regulatory plan embraces many reforms championed by unions and consumer advocacy groups, but getting Congress to enact some of these measures could be difficult. Already business groups are speaking out against various portions of the President’s plan. In response, major unions and consumer protection advocates have banded together to form a coalition called Americans for Financial Reform to try and fend off industry lobbyists. It is anticipated that the proposed reforms, if enacted, could spark a firestorm of litigation. According to the Daily Finance, “We intend to take our case to Congress to explain why we believe adding new layers to a broken regulatory system is not the answer,” said David Hirschmann, president of the Center for Capital Markets at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. BusinessWeek also quotes Hirschmann, noting, “While the Administration has made several positive recommendations, we're concerned that overall the proposal simply adds to the layering of the system without addressing the underlying and fundamental problems. We can't simply insert new regulatory agencies and hope that we've covered our bases.”
Health Care
Business community expresses concerns about proposed health care reforms
Bloomberg News reports business groups are urging their members to “push back” against health care bills being proposed on Capitol Hill. Several elements in the bills, including one calling for a mandate that employers provide health insurance for workers, are of concern. Since June 17, the U.S. Chamber’s member organizations have sent 36,000 letters, e-mails and faxes to the Senate health and finance committees expressing their opposition, said Bruce Josten, the organization’s top lobbyist. Business organizations are also focusing on Obama's push to create a government-run option similar to Medicare. The Senate Finance Committee now represents the last, best hope for holding back the problematic policies proposed in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee bill. The Washington Post's Daily Dose blog, Bloomberg News, and the AP have more on this issue, including information proposing to tax benefits.
Business priorities for health care reform outlined
The New York Times' Economix blog asked, “What should the priorities for health care reform be?” Randel Johnson, the vice president of labor, immigration and employee benefits for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, responded, “To reform the health system we need to do two major things – aggressively regulate insurance companies (no more pre-existing conditions, no more turning people away, guaranteed renewals, limit price variations for premiums, etc.) and reform the delivery system to lower costs and focus on value…If we implement insurance regulation and delivery reforms, we will get most Americans covered, we will reduce the costs of health care and health insurance, and we will do it very cheaply. There is no need to spend trillions. Let's try this before we create new government programs and spend our grandchildren into debt.”
Energy & the Environment
To ensure Democratic support, energy bill ensures coal's future
The Los Angeles Times reports that in order to “attract vital support from congressional Democrats representing heavily coal-dependent areas,” authors of the climate bill have made a series of concessions that substantially soften its effect on coal – at least over the next decade or so. The Environmental Protection Agency has predicted that if the provisions of this bill are put into effect, the US would use more carbon-dioxide-heavy coal in 2020 than it did in 2005. However, in 2020, the EPA predicts, conventional coal use would begin to fall quickly – “a prediction [that] rests on a still-uncertain assumption that new nuclear power plants would begin to come on line” and that clean coal technology becomes commercially viable. But “leading Democrats...say the moves have helped attract coal-district Democrats to support the bill without undermining the plan’s environmental goals.”
Climate measure narrowly passes House
A landmark climate bill narrowly passed a key procedural hurdle in the House late Friday, and then went on to a very close vote of 219 to 212 with eight Republicans voting for the bill (including Rep. Dave Reichert, R-WA-08) and 44 Democrats voting against it (including Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-OR-04, and Rep. Walt Minnick, D-ID-01). The fate of this measure in the Senate is unknown at this point and, like so many issues, may depend on how soon the 2008 Senate race in Minnesota can be resolved.
Trade
Could “Buy American” become “Bye America”?
Alibaba News Channel reports the Buy American provisions in the stimulus legislation are highlighting conflicts between business and labor. Most major American corporations are actively opposed. U.S. Chamber Chairman and Chief Executive Oficer Thomas Donohue has noted, “Such provisions would cost American jobs, trigger retaliation from our trading partners, slow economic recovery by delaying shovel-ready infrastructure projects, and cede our leadership role as a longstanding proponent of free and fair trade and global engagement.” Here’s more from Fibre2Fashion.com and the National Post.
Transportation
Administration not planning on adding transportation to agenda
The Washington Post notes after rejecting criticism that it is taking on too much, the Obama administration has identified one area where ambitious reforms will have to wait: overhauling the nation's aging, congested and carbon-emitting transportation system. The “current six-year, $286 billion transportation spending plan expires in October, and House members have worked for months to produce a 775-page, $500 billion bill that would create a new fund for road repairs, increase funding for rail and public transit and include reforms meant to wean the country from fossil fuels.” The White House and some of its Senate allies are letting it be known, though, that this is not a discussion they want to have now, in the middle of a recession and as Washington is consumed with battles over health care and energy.
Senate working on card check compromise that includes “mail-in” ballot and maintains arbitration
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports on organized labor's highest legislative priority in Congress, the Employee Free Choice Act (card check) bill under which a union would be certified if 50 percent of the workers sign cards. Currently, a majority vote in a secret-ballot election is required in most cases. The article notes that Sen. Dianne Feinstein is getting squeezed by business and organized labor over her neutrality on legislation that would make it easier for workers to form unions. Feinstein is part of a small group of senators led by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) that is trying to come up with a compromise. “I am working to find common ground between the needs of both business and labor in order to reach a bipartisan solution,” Feinstein said in a statement. “That ground is tough to find. Labor is wary of any changes in the legislation, and business maintains the differences on the issue are so great that there is little area for compromise.”
Proposed state measures on employee leave could reduce wages, benefits
The Wall Street Journal notes, “New and strengthened Democratic majorities in many state legislatures are pushing measures that require businesses to grant employees additional time off for personal or family reasons…Business advocates see such measures doing more harm than good for workers. To pay for additional benefits, employers may have to reduce wages or other benefits.”
Immigration Reform
White House says immigration reform unlikely this year
According to Roll Call the White House has acknowledged that immigration reform is unlikely to move in Congress this year. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday that despite “the President's desire for it to happen,” there was an understanding “that currently where we sit the math makes that real difficult.” Gibbs added, however, that Obama hopes that “later this year that we can have the beginning of formal debate on that.” Roll Call notes the President has consistently put other priorities – including energy and health care reform – ahead of an immigration bill, hoping to have both approved in 2009.
Financial Services Overhaul
Financial strategy favors unions and consumer groups
Dow Jones Newswires reports the Administration’s financial regulatory plan embraces many reforms championed by unions and consumer advocacy groups, but getting Congress to enact some of these measures could be difficult. Already business groups are speaking out against various portions of the President’s plan. In response, major unions and consumer protection advocates have banded together to form a coalition called Americans for Financial Reform to try and fend off industry lobbyists. It is anticipated that the proposed reforms, if enacted, could spark a firestorm of litigation. According to the Daily Finance, “We intend to take our case to Congress to explain why we believe adding new layers to a broken regulatory system is not the answer,” said David Hirschmann, president of the Center for Capital Markets at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. BusinessWeek also quotes Hirschmann, noting, “While the Administration has made several positive recommendations, we're concerned that overall the proposal simply adds to the layering of the system without addressing the underlying and fundamental problems. We can't simply insert new regulatory agencies and hope that we've covered our bases.”
Health Care
Business community expresses concerns about proposed health care reforms
Bloomberg News reports business groups are urging their members to “push back” against health care bills being proposed on Capitol Hill. Several elements in the bills, including one calling for a mandate that employers provide health insurance for workers, are of concern. Since June 17, the U.S. Chamber’s member organizations have sent 36,000 letters, e-mails and faxes to the Senate health and finance committees expressing their opposition, said Bruce Josten, the organization’s top lobbyist. Business organizations are also focusing on Obama's push to create a government-run option similar to Medicare. The Senate Finance Committee now represents the last, best hope for holding back the problematic policies proposed in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee bill. The Washington Post's Daily Dose blog, Bloomberg News, and the AP have more on this issue, including information proposing to tax benefits.
Business priorities for health care reform outlined
The New York Times' Economix blog asked, “What should the priorities for health care reform be?” Randel Johnson, the vice president of labor, immigration and employee benefits for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, responded, “To reform the health system we need to do two major things – aggressively regulate insurance companies (no more pre-existing conditions, no more turning people away, guaranteed renewals, limit price variations for premiums, etc.) and reform the delivery system to lower costs and focus on value…If we implement insurance regulation and delivery reforms, we will get most Americans covered, we will reduce the costs of health care and health insurance, and we will do it very cheaply. There is no need to spend trillions. Let's try this before we create new government programs and spend our grandchildren into debt.”
Energy & the Environment
To ensure Democratic support, energy bill ensures coal's future
The Los Angeles Times reports that in order to “attract vital support from congressional Democrats representing heavily coal-dependent areas,” authors of the climate bill have made a series of concessions that substantially soften its effect on coal – at least over the next decade or so. The Environmental Protection Agency has predicted that if the provisions of this bill are put into effect, the US would use more carbon-dioxide-heavy coal in 2020 than it did in 2005. However, in 2020, the EPA predicts, conventional coal use would begin to fall quickly – “a prediction [that] rests on a still-uncertain assumption that new nuclear power plants would begin to come on line” and that clean coal technology becomes commercially viable. But “leading Democrats...say the moves have helped attract coal-district Democrats to support the bill without undermining the plan’s environmental goals.”
Climate measure narrowly passes House
A landmark climate bill narrowly passed a key procedural hurdle in the House late Friday, and then went on to a very close vote of 219 to 212 with eight Republicans voting for the bill (including Rep. Dave Reichert, R-WA-08) and 44 Democrats voting against it (including Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-OR-04, and Rep. Walt Minnick, D-ID-01). The fate of this measure in the Senate is unknown at this point and, like so many issues, may depend on how soon the 2008 Senate race in Minnesota can be resolved.
Trade
Could “Buy American” become “Bye America”?
Alibaba News Channel reports the Buy American provisions in the stimulus legislation are highlighting conflicts between business and labor. Most major American corporations are actively opposed. U.S. Chamber Chairman and Chief Executive Oficer Thomas Donohue has noted, “Such provisions would cost American jobs, trigger retaliation from our trading partners, slow economic recovery by delaying shovel-ready infrastructure projects, and cede our leadership role as a longstanding proponent of free and fair trade and global engagement.” Here’s more from Fibre2Fashion.com and the National Post.
Transportation
Administration not planning on adding transportation to agenda
The Washington Post notes after rejecting criticism that it is taking on too much, the Obama administration has identified one area where ambitious reforms will have to wait: overhauling the nation's aging, congested and carbon-emitting transportation system. The “current six-year, $286 billion transportation spending plan expires in October, and House members have worked for months to produce a 775-page, $500 billion bill that would create a new fund for road repairs, increase funding for rail and public transit and include reforms meant to wean the country from fossil fuels.” The White House and some of its Senate allies are letting it be known, though, that this is not a discussion they want to have now, in the middle of a recession and as Washington is consumed with battles over health care and energy.
Add a Comment
© 2009 Created by Kyle J. Sexton
You need to be a member of Face2Face on SalemChamber.org to add comments!
Join this social network