Compliance September 14, 2004

Despite Loss on Overtime Amendment, GOP Unfazed

September 14, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Despite an embarrassing loss in the House in their attempt to block an amendment that would bar the Department of Labor (DoL) from enforcing the recently implemented overtime reclassification, GOP members still believe that they have the upper hand in Congress.
Reported by

>According to a report on TheHill.com, Republicans decided to let the vote go ahead, worried that letting the issue fester on the House floor would bring more negative press than it was worth. Congressional GOP members believe the amendment will not move to committee by the end of the year, and if it does, that the amendment will be stripped.

>The 233-193 vote in favor of the amendment to a Labor/HHS spending bill proposed by two Democratic representatives, would stop the Bush administration from restructuring overtime payments as part of changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Despite the loss, House GOP members are not worried. “Who’s paying attention to what we’re doing?,” asked GOP Representative John Boehner (R-Ohio), who strenuously objected to the amendment in a public relations campaign. He suggested that the nation was not paying attention to Congress’ actions, according to TheHill.com.

>Democrats had been pushing strenuously for an amendment to the overtime laws, which they feel will take certain sectors of the workforce off of overtime eligibility. The GOP has been fighting back with equal tenacity (See  GOP Reps Battle Democratic Amendment on Overtime Rules ).

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