The number of moderate Republican Senators keeps the Unions in control. Two Billion in welfare for heating oil! Once these programs start, you never get rid of them.
September 10, 2003
Senate Votes to Block Overtime Changes
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - [The New York Times]
Filed at 2:41 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate voted Wednesday to bar the Bush administration from issuing new overtime pay rules that Democrats and organized labor said would take money from the pockets of millions of workers.
The vote was 54-45, and left the fate of the controversial new regulations uncertain. The House blessed the administration's proposal earlier this year, and congressional negotiators will have to untangle the disagreement In addition, the White House has raised the possibility of a veto if Congress tries to block the rules.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who led the effort to block the proposed rules, said the Department of Labor had acted in a ``very heavy-handed manner'' in crafting a proposal that would ``wipe away the overtime protections'' enjoyed by millions.
But Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said the vote was premature -- that the Labor Department hadn't yet finished drafting the new rule -- and the claims by labor and its allies were wildly inflated. The number of workers who would be cut off from overtime eligibility is more like 800,000, he said, and he noted that a different part of the proposal would have extended overtime pay to 1.3 million workers not currently eligible.
The vote occurred as the Senate struggled to complete work on a $137.6 billion spending bill for the year beginning Oct. 1 for health, education and labor programs.
In a series of votes, Democrats led an effort to add funds to a variety of accounts, but were turned back.
A call to add $300 million for low-income heating assistance was rejected on a vote of 49-46, 11 short of the 60 needed. As drafted, the measure includes $2 billion for the program.
The vote on a call for an additional $50 million for a child vaccination program was 47-49, 13 less than needed.
The overtime issue was heavily lobbied on both sides, and in a rarity, all four of the Democratic presidential contenders arranged their schedules to be present. All voted to block the regulations.
The voting was largely along party lines, although six Republicans voted to block the Labor Department from proceeding and one Democrat, Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia, sided with the administration.
The proposed rules -- which would not affect workers under union contracts -- will take affect as soon as early 2004 unless a law is enacted blocking them.
Standing in Democrats' way is the Republican-led House, which in July voted to uphold the rules by 213-210 after the chamber's GOP leaders switched several votes at the last moment.
The new rules would also make overtime available to 1.3 million additional low-income Americans, the administration says, by raising the annual pay below which overtime must be paid to $22,100. That figure is currently $8,060, where it was set in 1975.
The Democratic amendment would not rescind that part of the proposed rules.
According to the Labor Department's latest figures, 11.6 million workers earned overtime pay in 2000.
nytimes.com |
