Situational Awareness
The House and Senate are in session this week. The Senate will continue work on nominations. The House will consider legislation to prohibit mandatory arbitration of disputes involving sexual assault and harassment (H.R. 4445).
Card Check in COMPETES Act
NCA last week filed comments with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in response to an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on preventing injury and illness due to heat in outdoor and indoor The House last week passed legislation aimed at increasing U.S. competitiveness with China, and in a last-minute move, Democrats included a provision that would require funding recipients to recognize any union based on card check and arbitration if a collective bargaining agreement is not reached in 120 days. The bill will be subject to a conference committee negotiation with the Senate. While the labor provisions are very unlikely to affect clubs, their inclusion in a final package, should they survive, would establish the first card check requirement in federal law.
NCA Signs WOTUS Comments
Last week, NCA agreed to sign onto comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding a proposed rule that would repeal the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) adopted under the Trump Administration and supported by the golf community. The EPA’s proposed rule would reestablish the pre-2015 Waters of the United States (WOTUS) definitions, but go a step further by creating a new, overly-broad definition of “other waters” that could include many features on a golf course. Read the comments here.
Budget Deadline Looms
Congress faces a February 18 deadline to adopt fiscal year 2022 spending bills to avoid a possible government shutdown. Appropriators from the House and Senate have been negotiating furiously to resolve their differences, but it appears a short-term continuing resolution will be needed to give the Senate time to consider any agreement reached this week.
Congress’ Agenda and Voter Concerns Show Misalignment
According to recent polling, American voters’ top concerns are jobs and the economy, coronavirus, inflation and healthcare; they believe Congress is focused on other priorities. The chart below shows the breakdown between Democrats, Republicans and Independents. The RealClearPolitics average for the generic congressional ballot shows Republicans edging out Democrats by 3.9 points. The poll asks voters to respond with which political party they would vote for to control Congress.
New York Redistricting
Last week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) signed a redistricting plan that all but assures Democrats will control 20-22 of the 26 congressional districts in the state. New York lost a seat in reapportionment last year. The map creates 20 solid Democratic districts, four Republican and two Democratic-leaning seats. While there were other proposals, the map signed by Governor Hochul is viewed by most analysts as the most favorable possible for Democrats. Roughly 30 states have completed their redistricting process so far. The monthly ClubPAC Insider has been featuring various states as they will have a significant effect on who controls Congress in 2023.
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