(The Associated Press distributed the following article by Leigh Strope on September 13.)
WASHINGTON — Some congressional Republicans skittish about the political fallout from an economy hemorrhaging jobs turned back administration proposals to rein in overtime pay, shift government work to the private sector and allow pension changes that cut benefits for older employees.
The defections in the GOP-controlled Congress gave organized labor rare victories last week on pocketbook issues.
“Given the state of the economy, people are very anxious about these issues, and some they consider very basic, like overtime pay,” said Bill Samuel, the AFL-CIO’s legislative director. “I think Republicans are sensing these are issues you don’t trifle with.”
Business groups say the issues, particularly overtime pay, are easy to demagogue. Labor ran an extensive lobbying campaign against the proposed overtime pay changes during the summer congressional vacation.
“I think labor worked overtime during the recess to get this done,” said Pat Cleary, senior vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers, which supports the administration’s proposal to revise overtime pay regulations. “If the vote had been before the recess, I don’t think they would have won.”
The votes against the regulations on overtime pay, government outsourcing and retirement plans are not the final word because the House and Senate must resolve differences in the bills from the two chambers. Still, the votes represent a growing uneasiness about the job market and the economy’s potential impact on next year’s election.
Few lawmakers want to be seen now as trying to take money or jobs from Americans.
Since President Bush took office, the economy has lost more than 3 million jobs, and the unemployment rate – 6.1 percent in August – has climbed more than 2 percentage points.
Despite signs of a strengthened economy, layoffs continue and companies are not hiring.
“It is not possible for you to talk about jobs too much,” Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, wrote GOP House members.
“I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to communicate that job creation is our top priority,” said Pryce, the GOP’s fourth-ranking House member.
Her memo told Republicans they face a “difficult communications environment,” given public worries about the economy and postwar Iraq, as well as the presence of nine Democratic presidential contenders consistently attacking Bush.
Democrats see a political opening on Bush’s handling of the economy. That was a key argument in the Senate overtime debate last week.
“We have now some of the worst economic conditions that we have seen in years in this country,” said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.
“Levels of unemployment continue to climb, so much so that many workers have simply given up looking for work. Why are we telling those who have work at this time that they should get less for what they do? Why are we telling these folks they have to take a pay cut?”
The administration said its proposal to update the decades-old rules would cut overtime pay for only 644,000 well-compensated workers, while making eligible or raising the pay of more than a million low-income workers. A study by the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, says 8 million workers would lose their overtime eligibility.
Labor Secretary Elaine Chao declined an interview request about the proposal and the Senate vote. A spokesman, Ed Frank, said Chao had nothing to say beyond her statement last week that the department was reviewing public comment.
Six Republicans split with the administration on the vote, including three – Sens. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – who are on the ballot in 2004. The other three were Sens. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Olympia Snowe of Maine and Ted Stevens of Alaska.
Campbell said he voted with Democrats because he did not want to deny overtime pay to hardworking people who relied on it.
The senator said that in talking with workers, he was told “they really rely on their overtime now not only to just buy the nice things they want for their families, but in some cases to actually make the payment on the house or to buy the insurance policy they need for the kids.”
In the House, a vote to block the rules narrowly failed. Congressional negotiators will have to resolve the issue while facing a veto threat by Bush.
Also last week, 26 House Republicans joined with Democrats on a vote to block regulations that would speed up competition for government jobs. Bush wants to open 850,000 federal jobs to the private sector. The Senate has not yet taken up the measure.
Further, 65 House Republicans crossed over to approve an amendment that would prevent the Treasury Department from issuing final regulations on cash balance pension plans.
Companies have converted their traditional pension plans to cash balance plans, which often cut expected benefits for older workers nearing retirement. Treasury’s proposal last year said cash balance plans would not be subject to age discrimination rules.