Situational Awareness
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate are in session this week. With the prospect of a government shutdown on Friday, lawmakers will work quickly to pass a short-term spending measure that will fund the federal government into early next year. It’s expected that the continuing resolution will incorporate a disaster relief supplemental measure and a one-year extension of the Farm Bill as well, after the latter two bills did not get any major consideration by the end of the year. Final language has not yet been released because of disagreements between House GOP and Democratic leadership over an economic assistance package for farmers.
In addition to the continuing resolution, the House is slated to vote on a bill that would allow Congress to disapprove multiple federal regulations under one joint resolution of disapproval if the regulations were submitted for review during the last 60 legislative days of the final year of a president’s term. Currently, each joint resolution may disapprove of only one regulation. Across Capitol Hill, the Senate is scheduled to vote on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and H.R.82, the Social Security Fairness Act, which would provide full Social Security benefits to individuals who receive a pension or disability benefit.
House GOP Steering Committee Selects New Education and Workforce Chair
Last week, the House Republican Steering Committee approved its selections for top committee chair positions in the 119th Congress. Notably, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) was selected picked to replace Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) as chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, which has jurisdiction over federal workplace policy. In a recent op-ed, Walberg criticized OSHA’s walkaround rule, DOL’s independent contractor and overtime rules, and NLRB’s updated joint employer standard.
The House Democratic Steering & Policy Committee will meet today to vote on its own recommendations to the full caucus for the committee ranking members in the next legislative session. There are several contested races that have brought renewed attention to intra-party tensions over continued adherence to the seniority system Congressional Democrats have used for decades. For instance, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is running against Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who has been in office since 2009, for the top Democratic position on the House Oversight Committee.
OSHA Leader Leaving Heat Safety, Inspection Changes to Trump
In an interview with Bloomberg, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Douglas L. Parker discussed OSHA’s remaining work that will be left uncompleted once President elect-Donald Trump is sworn into office. He made specific mention of OSHA’s proposed heat illness prevention regulation and the worker walkaround rule, which is facing an ongoing legal challenge. It’s expected that the Trump administration will rescind the walkaround rule. During the interview, Parker repeated that worker safety is a non-partisan issue, and therefore he hoped that the incoming Trump administration would finalize the heat standard rulemaking.
EPA Issues Update to Clean Water Act Section 404 Program
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule to streamline, modernize and clarify the procedures for states, territories and authorized tribes to administer the Clean Water Act’s Section 404 Assumption Program. The program was designed to regulate the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States (WOTUS), including wetlands. It further allows tribes and states to assume administration of the Section 404 dredged and fill permitting program. This is the first comprehensive update to the Clean Water Act Section 404(g) Tribal and State Assumption Program regulations in 35 years.
In recent years, tribes, states and other stakeholders have identified several barriers to assumption, including confusion over which waters they can assume authority over versus which waters stay within federal control, and requested that EPA clarify the program’s requirements and procedures. The final rule clarifies that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will retain permitting authority for WOTUS if those waters are actively used for interstate or foreign commerce. States and tribes are responsible for the remaining federally jurisdictional waters.
The rule is subject to the Congressional Review Act due to the timing of its finalization. Furthermore, participation in the program has become less attractive to states following the Supreme Court’s Sackett ruling. So far, only Michigan, New Jersey and Florida have assumed control of the permitting program, however, a federal court vacated Florida’s permitting program earlier this year.
Webcast: Economic Impact of the Private Club Industry
Join us tomorrow, Dec. 17 at 1pm EST for an in-depth discussion on the findings of the groundbreaking private club industry impact study conducted by NCA, CMAA and Club Benchmarking.
Across the U.S., there are approximately 5,659 private clubs, ranging from golf and country clubs to yacht and racquet clubs. The Economic Impact Study focused on 3,887 of these clubs, each with annual revenues exceeding $1 million.
This webcast is free to all NCA members, CMAA members and Club Benchmarking subscribers. Register here.