Good morning, Secretary Solis. Thank you for being with us today to discuss the policies and priorities of the Department of Labor. On February 13, President Obama released his fourth budget proposal since taking office. The Associated Press reported the fiscal year 2013 budget blueprint “[takes] a pass on reining in government growth” and “reprises a long roster of prior proposals,” such as more ... Read more »
The Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, chaired by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), today held a hearing entitled, “Ensuring Regulations Protect Access to Affordable and Quality Companion Care.” The hearing examined a Labor Department regulatory proposal that would make it more costly for individuals to receive in-home care. In 1974, Congress created an exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLS... Read more »
Today, we will examine the Department of Labor’s effort to narrow the long-standing companionship services exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act. As we all know, the FLSA continues to serve as the foundation of federal wage and hour standards. Today’s discussion is not about whether we stand by this important law more than 70 years after its enactment. The question before the subcommittee i... Read more »
On Wednesday, March 21 at 10:00 a.m., the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by Rep. John Kline (R-MN), will hold a hearing entitled “Reviewing the President’s Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Proposal for the U.S. Department of Labor.” The hearing will take place in room 2175 of the Rayburn House Office Building. In his Fiscal Year 2013 budget proposal, President Obama requests $... Read more »
On Tuesday, March 20 at 10:00 a.m., the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, chaired by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), will hold a hearing entitled “Ensuring Regulations Protect Access to Affordable and Quality Companion Care.” The hearing will take place in room 2175 of the Rayburn House Office Building. In 1974, the Fair Labor Standards Act was amended to cover workers who perform domestic services.... Read more »
Without a great deal of fanfare, National Labor Relations Board Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon recently released a report that amounts to his annual performance review. Solomon is responsible for investigating and prosecuting violations of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), as well as overseeing NLRB field offices that apply the law and supervise union elections. In a letter sent to his... Read more »
Hours before the nation recognized the anniversary of President Obama’s failed stimulus plan, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office announced unemployment could stay above 8 percent for the next three years. We are experiencing the longest run of high unemployment since the Great Depression, despite promises that a trillion dollars in “timely, targeted, and temporary” federal spending would ... Read more »
U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) issued the following remarks on President Obama’s $3.8 trillion budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2013: A Budget of Broken Promises “Time and again, President Obama has failed to keep his promises to the American people. The president promised to cut the deficit in half, but instead presided over three years of trillion d... Read more »
This week, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce examined President Obama’s decision to make so-called recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), even though the Senate was not in recess. As Chairman John Kline (R-MN) noted during Tuesday’s hearing, the president’s decision means “every action taken by the board will be tainted, creating greater uncertainty for ... Read more »
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by Rep. John Kline (R-MN), today held a hearing entitled, “The NLRB Recess Appointments: Implications for America’s Workers and Employers.” The hearing examined the constitutional concerns and legal uncertainty surrounding President Obama’s so-called recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and the impact these im... Read more »
