We’re here today to examine the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009, a bill that would have major consequences for workplaces across the nation. As I understand it, H.R. 3017 is largely identical to legislation of the same name introduced in 2007. This panel considered the legislation two years ago, and eventually it was brought to a vote in the full U.S. House of Representatives before stal... Read more »
As a former Montana secretary of state, Bob Brown understands the history and importance of the secret ballot. In a recent essay for the Missoulian, Brown said the secret ballot in America started during Reconstruction as a way to protect former slaves from “brutal harassment” at the polls while exercising their new right to vote. By the turn of the century, the practice had spread to both Norther... Read more »
Voters use a secret ballot. Workers who want to create a union use a secret ballot (for now). So do prisoners of war. Most people probably aren’t aware of it, but POWs do have a right to the secret ballot – something that workers would not have if the Employee Free Choice Act becomes law. In addition to issues of treatment and medical care, POW voting rights are listed in the Third Geneva Conventi... Read more »
More evidence has surfaced to debunk claims about a compromise version of the Employee Free Choice Act passing the Senate. Sen. Mark Pryor hasn’t weighed in on the “new” version of EFCA. In fact, he hasn’t said much about the old one either. The Hill catches up with the Arkansas Democrat here: “Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) told The Hill on Thursday he remains ‘stubbornly noncommittal’ on so-called ‘ca... Read more »
Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the top Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, today strongly criticized legislation that would dramatically expand the federal government by eliminating the private sector-based federal student loan program and spending tens of billions of dollars on a range of new entitlement programs. The legislation, H.R. 3221, was approved by the House in a vote to... Read more »
By now, news of the card check compromise that never was has spread far and wide. Yet despite the denials of key backers in Congress, it may be worth exploring the details of this phantom proposal. While this alleged compromise may not be ripe today, workers and employers deserve to know what may be coming. An editorial in today’s Wall Street Journal takes a look: “Mr. Specter's revised bill would... Read more »
Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the top Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, spoke this afternoon on the floor of the House about pending legislation that would eliminate the private sector-based Federal Family Education Loan program – the lending model chosen by a large majority of colleges and universities. The bill, H.R. 3221, also creates or expands numerous entitlement spending... Read more »
Arlen Specter made quite a splash yesterday with his declaration that a new version of the Employee Free Choice Act had garnered the 60 votes needed for passage in the Senate. Yesterday, the newly Democratic lawmaker appeared before the AFL-CIO convention. He announced that a compromise on EFCA has been “pounded out” and would pass by year’s end – to great applause. After his speech, Specter offer... Read more »
Government takeover. We’ve seen and heard a lot of those two words lately – in the credit markets, the banking sector, the automotive industry, and even the building of our schools. Then there’s health care, an industry that assumes one-sixth of America’s gross domestic product. We’re not talking about health care today, but perhaps we should be. The vote we’ll take on student lending is the culmi... Read more »
Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the top Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement this afternoon in response to reports that compromise proposals are being developed to engineer passage of the Employee Free Choice Act: “The so-called Employee Free Choice Act was a bad bill when it was introduced in March, and it’s still a bad bill today. Proposals that rest... Read more »
