House Republicans Outline Jobs Agenda

When the House of Representatives returns from its August recess it plans to take up a number of bills designed to repeal various labor- and employment-related regulations and agency actions. According to a memorandum issued by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), their regulatory relief agenda will include repeal of specific regulations, as well as fundamental and structural reform of the rule-making system. One of the first bills the House will consider the week of September 12 is the Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act (H.R. 2587), legislation that would prohibit the National Labor Relations Board from ordering any employer to close, relocate, or transfer its operations under any circumstance. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce narrowly approved this bill on July 21, 2011.

The House also plans to take aim at another labor-related issue this winter. According to Cantor’s agenda, the chamber will consider a bill “that will bring common sense to union organizing procedures to protect the interests of both employers and their workers.” This planned effort is in response to the NLRB’s recent proposed rule that would dramatically change pre- and post-representation election case procedures. This proposed rule has been the focus of a congressional hearing and a two-day public meeting. The public comment period on the proposal ended August 22, 2011.

Regulations implementing the new health care law will also come under scrutiny. Towards the end of 2011, the House intends to draft legislation to repeal regulations governing grandfathered health care plans. Under the Affordable Care Act, health plans that were implemented before the Act was signed into law are exempt from many, but not all, of the law's consumer protections. The regulations clarify how plans may qualify for and/or lose the grandfathered status. According to the memorandum, as a result of these regulations, 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 will lose their grandfathered status. Last September, the Senate rejected an attempt to overturn these regulations.

In addition, the agenda states that the House will take up business-related tax legislation in the coming months. Such measures include a bill (H.R. 674) that would repeal the requirement that as of 2013, federal, state, and local governments will withhold three percent of all government payments made to contractors in excess of $100 million. As stated in the memorandum, the House intends to “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.” The House is also expected to introduce a bill that would “allow small business people to take a tax deduction equal to 20% of their income.”

Even if the House clears all of these measures, these bills likely will face stronger opposition in the Senate. Meanwhile, President Obama is expected to unveil his jobs agenda next week.

Information contained in this publication is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or opinion, nor is it a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney.