Situational Awareness
The Senate is in session this week. After making the decision to pull votes on three FY 2025 appropriations amid intraparty GOP disagreements, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) sent House lawmakers back to their districts to start the August recess a week earlier than scheduled. The House, as well as the Senate after this week, will not return to Washington until after Labor Day. This week, the Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to continue advancing its versions of FY 2025 appropriations bills, including the Energy-Water Development, Labor-HHS-Education and Homeland Security spending measures.
Senate Prepares Final Vote on Kids Online Safety Package
Last week, the Senate successfully advanced two comprehensive bipartisan online safety bills: the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0). Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he plans to put the legislation, which will be enjoined in a single package (KOSPA), forward for a final vote this week. The package would establish a “duty of care” for online platforms to prevent and mitigate harm to children, including bullying and violence as well advertisements for illegal products. Social media platforms would also be limited on the amount of data they can collect on children and would have to provide minors with options to protect their information, disable addictive product features and opt out of personalized algorithmic recommendations.
Neither of the two underlying bills has passed the House despite bipartisan support in the Senate. Some civil rights groups, including the ACLU, have raised concerns that social media companies could respond to the legislation by censoring certain content (i.e. resources for LGBTQ+ youth) out of fear of being held legally liable. Ultimately, the legislation could also limit certain mobile phone applications from gathering geolocation data of their younger users, such as certain GPS tracker apps.
Senate Labor Committee Holds Confirmation Votes for NLRB Nominees
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) is set to vote this week to advance the nominations of current-Chair Lauren McGarity McFerran and Joshua Ditelberg to be members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The committee will also vote on Mark Eskenazi’s nomination to serve as a member of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Committee. Chicago-based labor lawyer Joshua Ditelberg would fill a vacant Republican seat. By renominating NLRB Chair McFerran for a new five-year term, President Joe Biden is aiming to lock in her position before the 2024 election. The nominations, if confirmed by the Senate, would ensure Democrats maintain a majority on the NLRB even if Donald Trump is elected as president in November.
Ahead of the vote, six GOP senators, including Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-La.) sent a letter to HELP Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to delay the votes on the NLRB nominations to allow for public hearings. The lawmakers argue that under Chair McFerran’s leadership, the NLRB has been mismanaged, as the agency failed to comply with existing mail ballot procedures according to the findings included in a June 2024 report prepared by the Office of the Inspector General.
House Workforce Subcommittee Calls for Tree Cutter Protections, Questions Proposed Heat Standard
During a hearing, House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections Chair Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has demonstrated “negligence” by not issuing a specific rule for workers who cut and trim trees. Without a specific rule, OSHA relies on regulations such as those covering fall protection or working near power lines. For years, representatives of the Tree Care Industry Association have encouraged members of Congress to support a formal rulemaking effort.
Several Democratic lawmakers on the subcommittee asked witnesses to explain the importance of OSHA’s rulemaking to establishing a federal heat illness prevention standard. In response to a question from Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) on the proposed rule’s justification, Jordan Barab, former OSHA deputy assistant secretary, explained how, as a result of employees having limited control over their workplace conditions, federal workplace laws shift responsibility for maintaining a safe workplace to employers. On the other side of the aisle, GOP lawmakers discussed that the proposed rule doesn’t take into consideration for regional climate differences. One witness pointed out some concerns about whether OSHA will include details about humidity factors when determining heat levels that would trigger an employer to deploy best methods to avoid heat illness.
Senate Science Committee Votes on Heat Illness Bill
On Wednesday, July 31, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Justice, and Science will hold a business meeting to consider more than a dozen bills, including legislation–the Preventing HEAT Illness and Deaths Act—that would improve and expand interagency efforts, provide $100 million in financial assistance for community projects to reduce exposure to extreme heat, and issue recommendations for federal action on heat-health issues. The Democratic-led bill, introduced last year, is in response to historic high temperatures and an increase in the number of heat illness-related deaths.
The timing of the mark-up coincides with a recent proposed rule released by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that would require employers to develop and implement a worksite heat injury and illness prevention plan (HIIPP) when workers are or can be expected to be exposed to a heat index of 80 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. Under the HIIPP, workers exposed to these temperatures would have to be provided access to drinking water and readily accessible break areas.
House GOP lawmakers have come out in opposition of the proposed rule, arguing that it would burden employers with prescriptive requirements, paperwork and higher costs, which will do little to improve safety. As part of a defense strategy against broader criticisms of OSHA’s rulemaking, the Preventing HEAT Illness and Deaths Act would commission a National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine study on federal action on heat-health issues and responses.
Senate Hearing on Banning Non-compete Agreements
On Tuesday, July 30, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs will hold a hearing entitled, “Banning Noncompete Agreements: Benefits for Workers, Businesses, and the Economy.” Committee Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) has been a vocal advocate of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) April 2024 final rule that would prohibit nearly all employee non-compete agreements, arguing that “corporations use non-compete agreements to prevent workers from leaving for jobs with better pay and benefits.”
Most recently, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas partially blocked the FTC’s non-competes rule, which has an effective date of Sept. 4, 2024. The ruling temporarily places the rule on hold until the judge makes a final ruling on whether FTC overstepped its authority in issuing it. The plaintiffs behind the challenge to the rule, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, argued that the FTC violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act (APA) because the FTC exceeded its statutory authority and the agency’s actions were arbitrary and capricious.
Webcast: State of the Restaurant Industry
Join us next Thursday, August 8, at 2pm ET for an in-depth presentation on how clubs can benefit from the latest data and trends in the restaurant industry. Chad Moutray, Ph.D., CBE, vice president of research and knowledge at the National Restaurant Association, will lead the conversation, providing insights on how clubs can keep members coming back to dine.
This webcast is free and available to the entire club industry. Register Here.
Read the new Club Director!
The summer issue of Club Director is out with important and timely articles for club leaders. Inside, we forecast the legislative and regulatory agenda for Congress and the agencies; sit down with Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), who represents California’s 3rd District; introduce new NCA Chair and GM/CEO of Chevy Chase Club Luke O’Boyle; and tackle many of today’s most pressing club matters. Read the full issue with only your email address here.