Weekly Roundup
Congressman Gary G. Miller, California 42nd District

December 2, 2011

This Week in Congress:

Protecting Worker Freedom: On Wednesday, the House passed H.R. 3094, the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act, by a vote of 235-188. The bill would prevent the NLRB from imposing new union election procedures that will harm employers and employees alone. Just this week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) adopted changes to union election procedures that will limit the time employers have to properly prepare for pre-election hearings. The rule also will severely limit the time employees will have to decide whether they wish to join a union. H.R. 3094 would give employers at least two weeks to prepare their case to present before NLRB election officials. The bill also prohibits union elections from taking place within 35 days of the completion of the pre-election hearing, giving employees sufficient time to consider their options.

Regulatory Relief for Small Businesses: On Thursday, the House passed H.R. 527, the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act by a vote of 263-159. As the creator of seven out of ten new jobs, small businesses are the driving force behind job growth in the United States. The costs of excessive government regulations, however, are placing a tremendous burden on small companies. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), the average small business with fewer than twenty employees faces a cost each year directly attributed to federal regulations of over $10,000 per worker they employ. To address the impact regulations have on employers, the House on Thursday passed the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act. The bill closes loopholes in current law to ensure that federal agencies account for the effects of proposed regulations on small businesses. The measure also enhances the SBA’s ability to help shape major federal rules to ensure that the law is implemented uniformly among all federal government agencies.

Ending Public Financing of Presidential Campaigns: Also on Thursday, the House passed H.R. 3463, by a vote of 235-190, to terminate public financing of presidential campaigns. Many presidential campaigns now routinely opt out of the public finance system. The program’s popularity has also declined among taxpayers. In 2010, only 7.3% of taxpayers participated, down from nearly 29% in 1980. The bill would also disband the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), which was originally scheduled to sunset in 2005, but has since doubled in size despite a decreasing workload. The EAC has allocated all of its election grants and has requested no additional funding for the grants in their last three budget submissions. The EAC has however continued to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on administrative costs. In fact, these costs now consume over 50% of the Commission’s budget. This common-sense legislation will save $480 million over five years and bring two underused and outdated programs to an end.

Reigning in Federal Regulations: Today, the House passed H.R. 3010, the Regulatory Accountability Act by a vote of 253-167. The current rate of economic growth is too slow to help the millions of Americans currently struggling to find work. One of the major impediments to job creation is overregulation. Each year, federal agencies issue 3,000 to 4,000 final rules, imposing new requirements and compliance costs on employers. On Friday, the House passed H.R. 3010 to require federal agencies to consider the cost of new mandates they intend to impose on job creators, and increase transparency and accountability requirements in the rule-making process. The bill also requires agencies to consider and assess the costs and benefits of regulatory alternatives and to adopt the least-costly alternative.

Of Note:

Congressman Miller’s December Column: Congressman Miller has published his column for the month of December, entitled “America Can’t Wait for Job Creation”. To read the column, go to http://garymiller.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=271002

Talking Points on Jobs and Reigning in Federal Regulations

• On December 2nd, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the economy added 120,000 jobs in the month of November, and the unemployment rate has fallen to 8.6%.
• While this is a positive development, the modest job growth in November is still far from where we need to be to get our economy back on track and put more Americans back to work.
• The fall in the unemployment rate can be partly attributed to the exit of hundreds of thousands of individuals from the workforce.
• The fact is, the Obama Administration promised that if we passed the “stimulus” package, unemployment would not rise above 8 percent. After 30 months unemployment at or near 9 percent, it is clear the stimulus failed.
• Instead of spending billions of taxpayer dollars on projects that expand government, Congress and the White House must focus on pro-growth policies that will relieve the uncertainty hanging over our nation’s employers.
• One of the major impediments to job creation is government overregulation.
• One study found that each $1 million increase in the federal regulatory budget costs 420 jobs in the private sector.
• The cost of excessive government regulations are particularly burdensome on our nation’s small businesses which are the driver of job creation in our country, creating seven out of ten net new jobs.
• According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), regulations cost the American economy $1.75 trillion each year.
• The SBA also notes that the average small business with fewer than twenty employees faces a cost each year directly attributed to federal regulations of over $10,000 per worker they employ.
• House Republicans are considering multiple bills to help rein in out-of-control federal regulations
• H.R. 3010, the Regulatory Accountability Act requires agencies to do a better job in determining whether new regulations are needed. When regulations are necessary, it requires federal agencies to find the lowest-cost alternative to achieve these goals.
• H.R. 3010 will not stop federal agencies from issuing needed regulations, but it will prevent them from imposing unjustified regulatory costs on job creators.
• Meanwhile, H.R. 527, the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act, will provide urgently needed help to small businesses facing an onslaught of federal regulations.
• H.R. 527 closes loopholes in current law that allows small businesses to be exploited by the regulations process. This measure ensures that all small businesses have a voice in the regulatory process, not just those from certain industries.
• Job creation is the key to economic recovery and small businesses are America’s main job creators. Over-regulation kills jobs and is especially burdensome for small businesses.
• Both of these bills passed by the House this week recognize that economic growth ultimately depends on job creators, not government regulators.

Talking Points on the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act

• This week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) adopted new rules that will significantly change procedures governing union organizing elections.
• The new rules represent a dramatic shift in union election procedures that have been in place for decades.
• The new rules will provide employers with just seven days to find legal counsel and prepare their case to be presented at a pre-election hearing convened by an NLRB official. The bill also gives employees as few as ten days to consider the consequences of joining a union before they have to vote in the election.
• These new policies will severely limit employers’ ability to raise additional issues or concerns throughout the hearing process and limits the amount of time employees have to consider whether or not to join a union.
• It is clear that the NLRB is committed to a culture of union favoritism that is hurting workers and employers.
• This week, the House passed the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act to stop the NLRB from imposing these sweeping changes to our nation’s workplaces.
• The bill will give employers at least 14 days to prepare their case, and gives them the opportunity to raise concerns throughout the NLRB pre-election hearing, ensuring that employers are able to participate in a fair election process.
• The legislation also guarantees workers will have the ability to make a fully informed decision on whether to join a union by prohibiting union elections from being conducted for 35 days after the conclusion of a pre-election hearing.
• This will ensure that workers will have the opportunity to hear both sides of the debate.
• The Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act will rein in the activist NLRB and reaffirm protections workers and employers alike have received for decades.