Preparing for the new Congress | Capitol HillCraig S. Brightup
As this issue goes to press, the Nov. 7 general election has not
yet been held, but NRCA's Washington, D.C., office is prepared to
make course corrections to roofing industry issues—regardless
of which party controls the 110th Congress. If Democrats take
majority control of the House of Representatives and/or Senate,
there will be a philosophical shift on Capitol Hill with regard to
most business-related issues.
For example, committees of jurisdiction for Small Business
Health Plan (SBHP) legislation are the Senate Health, Education,
Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee and House Education and
Workforce Committee. The current chairman of the HELP committee is
Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), who has a 92 percent lifetime voting
record with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. If Democrats take
control, the HELP chairman would be Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.),
who has a 22 percent chamber record. In the House, the current
chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee is Rep. Howard
"Buck" McKeon (R-Calif.), who has a 96 percent record with the
chamber, and the chairman-in-waiting, Rep. George Miller
(D-Calif.), has a 22 percent chamber rating.
A shift of control in either committee temporarily would halt
progress for SBHP legislation because neither potential Democrat
chairman supports SBHPs.
Also, these committees have jurisdiction over the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and new chairmen likely
would bring more adversarial OSHA oversight and a push for
more...
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