HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Washington, Dec 15, 2007 - It’s only 10 days until Christmas, and while many Americans are out at malls today buying gifts for their friends and families, Democratic leaders are holed-up in the Capitol, secretly drafting a year-end “omnibus” spending bill. And as Republicans continue to fight for greater fiscal discipline, their Democratic counterparts have yet to commit to responsible spending levels and sound policy. Throughout the week, the GOP-led virtual “Butcher Shop” uncovered how Democrats could use a massive earmark cover-up to allow worthless pork to be slipped into the bill without any public scrutiny, as well as numerous sweeping policy changes – all of which were threatened with a presidential veto earlier this year – that could be buried in the legislation as well, including:

• Weakening Sanctions Against Cuba;
• Overturning the Mexico City Policy on Abortion;
• Providing Federally-Funded Benefits for Domestic Partners;
• Expanding Controversial Davis-Bacon Wage Mandate;
• Ending an IRS Private Debt Collection Program; and
• Undermining Regulatory Reform.

And now, other harmful policy “riders” have been identified – notably, Big Paybacks to Big Labor Bosses and energy policy changes that House Natural Resources Committee Republicans describe as “legislating energy suicide.” Here are the details:

BIG PAYBACKS TO BIG LABOR BOSSES

• Diminishing Union Accountability. The Majority may prevent the Office of Labor Management Standards – the federal government’s union watchdog office – from implementing improved conflict of interest disclosure forms for union leaders. These updated forms are intended to provide greater transparency and more meaningful information to rank-and-file union members.

• Weakening Oversight of Criminal Labor Activities. Tucked in the omnibus spending bill could be an effort to narrow the Department of Labor’s jurisdiction over labor racketeering and organized criminal enterprises, limiting responsibility exclusively to the Inspector General while excluding the rest of the Department.

• Sneaking in the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act. Democrats may attempt to insert the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act (H.R. 980) – legislation that would force all state and local governments to collectively bargain with police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel – circumventing a legislative process that is well underway. At the behest of Big Labor, the legislation severely restricts the freedom of state and local governments to craft employment policies for public safety officers.

In a recent memo, Education & Labor Committee Republican staff exposed these policy riders for exactly what they are – Big Paybacks to Big Labor:

LEGISLATING ENERGY SUICIDE

• Restricting the Development of U.S. Energy Reserves. The Majority may include harmful policy language in the omnibus spending bill that would breach the 1998-1999 Clinton oil and gas leases. The Administration has estimated that leasing delays from resulting litigation will cost the federal government $11 billion and 1.6 barrels of oil – all at a time when oil prices are reaching record levels.

• Cutting Off Development of a Naval Oil Shale Reserve (Also Known as the Roan Plateau). Established in the 1920s, the Roan Plateau would provide enough natural gas to heat four million homes for 20 years. A recent Denver Post editorial applauded the House for stripping language from the Majority’s “no energy” bill that would have banned development of the Roan Plateau, but Democratic leaders may seek to add that language into the omnibus spending bill.

• Establishing Higher Fees and More Red Tape. The Majority may move to increase drilling permit fees to make domestic energy production more expensive – and, in turn, raise the price of home heating oil and gasoline to Americans. Furthermore, Democratic leaders may be poised to slow the permitting process to allow for the development of energy resources on federal lands, increasing burdensome red tape out of Washington, DC.

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Republican Don Young (D-AK) took aim at these potential policy riders yesterday:

Indeed, just days – or even hours – before the bill is slated to be made public, it seems that the Majority’s long-awaited omnibus spending bill may be loaded with harmful policy to complement the worthless pork most Americans already have come to expect from this Congress.