Situational Awareness
The House and Senate are not in session this week. The Senate returns next week and the House will reconvene the week of January 10.
OSHA Vaccine ETS Headed to SCOTUS
Following the Sixth Circuit’s lifting of the stay placed on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) emergency temporary standard (ETS), the Supreme Court announced that it will hear arguments against the ETS and a similar mandate for health care workers on January 7, 2022. OSHA has stated that they will not issue citations for noncompliance with any requirements of the ETS before January 10 and will not issue citations for noncompliance with the standard’s testing requirements before February 9, so long as an employer is exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard. OSHA has also stated it will work closely with employers to provide compliance assistance. Although conservative justices hold a 6-3 edge on the court, it provides little insight on how it might rule on such a case. The court has historically provided government agencies with wide latitude and deference on rulemaking, but the circumstances and timelines on what purports to be an emergency raise important questions nearly two years into the pandemic.
Happy New Election Year!
On behalf of the National Club Association (NCA) staff, I’d like to wish all Washington Weekly Update readers a healthy and happy new year! There are precisely 315 days until the 2022 mid-term elections on November 8, 2022. Razor thin majorities in the House and Senate are in the balance while redrawing legislative districts continues in the states. More than half of the states have finalized their congressional maps, which will have implications for elections held over the next decade. ClubPAC Insider will be taking a look at the impact redistricting has on which party will hold the majority in the House in upcoming editions published at the beginning of each month. Subscribe to the ClubPAC Insider email here.
Sign Up for Monthly Political Updates
Each month, ClubPAC Insider provides NCA members who have signed the prior authorization form with insights on the political tug-of-war happening in states and districts around the country. 2022 will begin with redistricting in the states and the impact it will have on House elections on November 8. The monthly email newsletter will also feature insights on which candidates ClubPAC is supporting this cycle. At the risk of jinxing my future prognostications, since joining the NCA staff, of NCA I correctly predicted the number of electors President Biden won in 2020 and the winning margins in the Virginia and New Jersey governor’s races earlier this year. You can sign up for ClubPAC Insider here to see how I fare for the 2022 elections.
Employment Policy Outlook Webcast January 11
On January 11, 2022, NCA will host a webcast at 2 p.m. ET to take a prospective look at what labor regulations and policies are in the pipeline for the year ahead. The webcast will be hosted by me and feature Marc Freedman, vice president of employment policy with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Josh Ulman, managing partner and founder of Ulman Public Policy. Ulman and Freedman are among the top employment policy specialists in Washington, D.C., and I have had the pleasure of working closely with them for more than ten years. This should be an informative and interesting look ahead at the labor and employment policies likely to affect private clubs in the coming months and years.
Save the date for this event. Registration is forthcoming.