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Foxx Report
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This week the House passed a disapproval resolution seeking to stop the National Labor Relations Board from overturning years of precedent and dramatically altering long-standing policies governing union elections. The NLRB released the so-called “ambush election” rule in December 2014 and it is scheduled to take effect on April 14.
The rule constrains the rights of workers to make informed decisions, severely hampers employers’ rights to speak to their employees during union organizing campaigns and weakens the privacy rights of workers. It is just the latest in a series of outrageous actions seeking to jeopardize the relationship between workers and employers and upend a carefully crafted process for organizing elections that has existed for decades.
The Congressional Review Act of 1996 established a process through which Congress can overturn regulations issued by federal agencies by enacting a joint resolution of disapproval. The Senate passed the disapproval resolution on March 4 by a vote of 53-46. Of course, a disapproval resolution must be signed by the president before it could go into effect.
Reducing the Costs of Federal Construction Projects
On Thursday I introduced legislation to stretch the limited funds available to the Highway Trust Fund by exempting it from the Davis-Bacon Act’s outdated, wasteful labor requirements for federal-aid highway and public transportation projects.
The Davis-Bacon Act, which became law in 1931, requires federal contractors and subcontractors to pay the local prevailing wage for construction projects on which the federal government is a party. For decades, it has been driving up the cost of federal highway projects by mandating artificially high wages. According to a 2011 Joint Economic Committee report, Davis-Bacon-determined wages tended to inflate labor costs an average of 22 percent above market rates.
With Highway Trust Fund deficits expected to hit $157 billion by 2024, it’s time to exempt the fund from Davis-Bacon’s expensive and overly burdensome wage requirements.
Protecting Volunteer Firefighters from Obamacare
This week the House unanimously passed legislation to exempt volunteer firefighters and emergency personnel from being counted as full-time employees under Obamacare. Requiring volunteer companies to comply with the employer mandate would make them liable for excessive new health care costs, forcing many to reduce personnel or hours and possibly close their doors.
I will continue to support repealing the president’s ill-conceived government takeover of our health care system and replacing it with policies that empower patients and promote access to affordable health care options.
Protecting Medicare Beneficiaries
Legislation also passed the House this week that would require hospitals to notify Medicare beneficiaries of their admission status, which can determine coverage for future care related to their recovery. When the difference between being admitted as “inpatient” versus “under observation” could mean thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses, hospitals should make sure seniors understand the financial implications of their status.
Improving Scientific Integrity at EPA
The House also passed legislation to hold the EPA's Science Advisory Board accountable when creating laws that will seriously impact families and small businesses around the country. The EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2015 strengthens public participation, improves and makes more transparent the process for selecting board members and expands additional transparency and reporting requirements. These changes will help ensure that the functions and reporting of the board are driven by scientific research, not partisan policy perspectives.
What’s Coming Up
Next week the House will consider the House Republican Budget for FY 2016 as well as a permanent fix to the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), also known as the “doc fix.”
Sincerely,
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