Situational Awareness
The Senate is in session this week. Lawmakers in the upper chamber are expected to vote on a budget blueprint that will allow Republicans to draft and pass a reconciliation bill that reflects President Trump’s immigration, energy and defense policy priorities. Reconciliation is a legislative procedure that allows the Senate to bypass the 60-vote majority typically necessary to pass major legislation. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is seeking to pass two reconciliation bills, with the latter being a tax extender package that incorporates several expiring provisions originally signed into law under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. At the committee level, the Senate will continue to consider several of President Trump’s cabinet-level nominations.
NCA Opposes Maryland Legislature Bill Targeting Clubs & Golf Courses
Delegates in the Maryland General Assembly recently re-introduced legislation that would repeal the proposed special use assessment of country clubs and golf courses for property tax purposes. The bill is aimed at providing the state with additional tax revenue that would be re-directed to public services. The original proposal introduced in 2021 was expected to provide an additional $4.8 million in local property tax revenues across Maryland, according to a Department of Legislative Services analysis of the bill. A hearing on the bill is scheduled for Feb. 18. The National Club Association sent two letters to the chair and Republican leader of Maryland’s House Ways and Means Committee in opposition to the bill.
Senate Begins Consideration of Chavez-DeRemer DOL Nomination
After delaying last week’s previously scheduled confirmation hearing, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will consider former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination as Secretary of the Department of Labor (DOL) on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination by President Trump came as a surprise to many business groups and conservative lawmakers due to her support for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would expand worker protections for collective bargaining activities in the workplace. President Trump’s choice for DOL secretary could be interpreted as a party-wide tactic to further appeal to unions—a key demographic that contributed to his election in November. It’s expected that Chavez-DeRemer will be advanced out of the committee on a bipartisan basis.
White House Announces OSHA Administrator Nomination
Last week, the White House posted the formal nomination of David Keeling to head the Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration (OSHA). Keeling worked as director of safety compliance for UPS from 2011 to 2018 before serving as the vice president of global health and safety at Amazon from 2018 to 2021. In recent years, both UPS and Amazon have been issued citations by OSHA for unsafe working conditions. During his leadership at UPS, Keeling wrote an op-ed for OH&S magazine that mentioned UPS’ Comprehensive Health and Safety Process (CHSP) committees, which involved UPS “front-line employees” in the development of updated workplace safety plans. In its response comments to OSHA’s proposed heat standard rule, NCA requested that the agency refrain from finalizing the overburdensome rulemaking and allow employers to implement their own workplace safety plans developed in coordination with workers.