A House Appropriations subcommittee marked up a bill Thursday that would rein in the Labor Department and National Labor Relations Board, the main federal labor law enforcement agency.
The bill prohibits the department from enforcing new rules on speeding up union elections, expanding corporate liability under the joint employer rule and expanding investment advisers’ fiduciary liability to their clients.
It also prohibits the labor board from recognizing unions that do not represent all members of a workplace, allowing workplace elections to be done online, or asserting jurisdiction over American Indian reservations.
The provisions were included in the fiscal 2017 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations. The bill provides $161.6 billion for those departments and related federal agencies. The proposed legislation passed the subcommittee by voice vote and is expected to go before the full committee next week.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., said the spending bill would “[roll] back overregulation and overreach by the administration that kills American jobs, and cutting spending to save hard-earned taxpayer dollars.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., objected to the inclusion of the provisions. “This bill leaves students, workers and women more vulnerable to exploitation. … It continues the assault on the American worker by stopping the National Labor Relations Board from enforcing its own rules,” she said.
