Democrats say they will attach amendments to pending legislation in order
to reestablish a jobless-aid program and to block the Bush administration's
proposed revisions to overtime rules for white-collar workers, the Chicago Tribune
reports.
For a Limited Time receive a
FREE Compensation Market Analysis Report! Find out how much you should be paying to attract and retain the best applicants and employees, with
customized information for your industry, location, and job.
Get Your Report Now!Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York intends to introduce a measure to
extend the federal government's program for unemployment benefits for workers
who exhaust their benefits from states. Clinton's measure would extend the program
by 13 weeks.
The federal program expired on December 20 and workers who exhaust their state
benefits after that date would not be eligible for the federal aid. Democrats
say it is important to continue the program because the economy is not adding
jobs at a clip necessary to improve unemployment significantly. The Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that 375,000 unemployed workers will
exhaust their benefits in January. Republicans contend that the economy has
picked up steam and there is no need to extend the federal aid.
Democrats say they will use the same tactic to block a proposal to revise the
overtime rules covering white-collar workers, the newspaper reports. A similar
attempt failed in 2003, when House-Senate negotiators dropped an amendment to
block the changes.
The Labor Department has said it will issue final rules for overtime by the
end of March.
Link