Anti-worker, Anti-regulatory Bills Pass House - May 17, 2004 Vol.5, No.10

May 17, 2004 Vol.5, No.10:

Published: 05/20/2004

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Anti-worker, Anti-regulatory Bills Pass House

The House of Representatives voted to pass five bills, four of which threaten workplace safety while the other threatens regulatory safeguards across the board.

The anti-regulatory bill, H.R. 2432, authorizes a study of "regulatory budgeting," a project that could ration protections of the public health, safety, and environment by setting an artificial cap of regulatory "costs" that can be imposed. An amendment proposed by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) would have established a panel to study the politicization of science, but it was defeated just before the House voted to pass the bill.

The remaining bills would alter current protections for worker safety by, among other things, allowing the administration to pack additional members on the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission and giving employers expanded rights to seek recovery of attorney's fees for contesting OSHA violations. All four bills passed.

The regulatory and OSHA bills have now been bundled as H.R. 2728, which is beginning to wend its way through the Senate.