Posts tagged Kevin Kiley
Op-ed: Watch out — California’s damaging gig workers law is going nationwide
February 20, 2024 // The rule is slated to take effect on March 10. U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) have both declared they will use the Congressional Review Act to have this rule rescinded. Previous legislation has been tendered in support of small businesses and the self-employed. The “Fight for Freelancers” group of female writers and editors has filed a lawsuit challenging this rule, which serves to appease Big Labor in the same manner as AB5.
A Lawsuit Seeks to Stop the National Destruction of Trucking Through the DOL Indep. Contractor Rule
February 14, 2024 // The U.S. DOL is using bureaucratic means to make an end-run around already failed legislation (see The PRO Act) in order to destroy independent professionals and small businesses across the nation. The Rule embeds the same tenets found in the ABC Test, which supports AB5, and we all know how well that went in California. The state's trucking industry, in particular, continues to fight hard against AB5, and their battle is being watched by the rest of the industry in other states. Now, a Louisiana business has filed a lawsuit to stop the rule, which is scheduled to take effect on March 11.
Commentary: Why we just sued the US Department of Labor
February 6, 2024 // As one of us testified before Congress last year, the Biden administration remains relentless. It’s now attempting a regulatory workaround with the Department of Labor’s independent contractor rule, which, in a cruel twist, was released just days before Mercatus Center research showed that the protesting independent contractors have been right all along. Mercatus found that the California approach not only failed to create unionizable jobs, but actually decreased overall employment by 4.4 percent and self-employment by 10 percent. Mercatus also noted that this happened despite California ultimately exempting more than 100 professions. The new Labor rule exempts none. The department acknowledges there may be “conceptual overlap” with the California law’s most harmful language. We agree. What’s worse is that the Labor rule is so vague, it’s impossible for anyone to know how to operate legally with independent contractors. The Biden administration sees this as a feature, not a bug.
Biden Takes a Destructive California Idea National
February 4, 2024 // The Biden administration appears undeterred by the lessons of recent history. The California law unleashed chaos in the state’s politics and courts. Politicians delegated to union leaders the power to hand out exemptions to politically favored groups. Lawyers, doctors, psychologists, dentists, podiatrists — almost anybody with an advanced degree was exempt. When newspapers editorialized against the new law — noting that they rely on freelance photographers, reporters, editors, designers, and delivery people — they, too, were excluded from the new regulations. Suddenly free from the dead hand of state regulators, the newspapers turned as one and editorialized in favor of the new law. A federal judge said the process was shot through with “corruption,” “backroom dealing,” “pure spite,” and “naked favoritism.” But more important, A.B. 5 crushed tens of thousands of California business owners — those who operate as independent contractors as well as those who employ or otherwise rely on them. Now Biden and Su plan to bring the crazy to every American state.
‘Independent Contractor’ Rule Latest Dumpster Fire Exported From California
January 31, 2024 // One of those infamous policies and the havoc it’s bound to wreak has gone national, thanks to labor department rules issued by the Biden administration. A 339-page Department of Labor rule – you can always count on the federal government to keep it pithy – would make it much harder to be an independent contractor or freelance worker in America. Created to replace a simpler Trump-era rule, it’s modeled on AB5, a disastrous 2019 California law that made independent contracting and freelance work so hard to do that it effectively outlawed it in the Golden State.
Biden’s labor proxy war against DeSantis
November 22, 2023 // Su is abusing her discretionary power under the Federal Transit Act. Yet if her actions are allowed to stand, labor unions may come to regret it. Future administrations may interpret the “fair and equitable” provision to require that states enact policies like Florida’s. States such as California, New York, and Illinois may suddenly find themselves out billions of dollars unless they stop giving unions unfair advantages and start protecting public-sector workers’ rights. Those states would surely argue that the Federal Transit Act doesn’t grant the secretary of labor such sweeping authority, but if that’s true, then the Biden administration’s assault on Florida is equally wrong.
Reps. Foxx, Kiley to Su: Withdraw Proposed Overtime Rule
November 8, 2023 // Several other GOP lawmakers also signed onto the letter, including Glenn "GT" Thompson, Pennsylvania; Tim Walberg, Michigan: Elise Stefanik, New York; Rick Allen, Georgia; James Comer, Kentucky; Lloyd Smucker, Pennsylvania; Burgess Owens, Utah; Bob Good, Virginia; Mary Miller, Illinois: Michelle Steel, California; Julia Letlow, Louisiana; Aaron Bean, Florida; Eric Burlison, Missouri, and Erin Houchin, Indiana. "DOL under President Trump published a rule that responsibly updated the salary threshold and considered extensive stakeholder feedback before issuing the final rule," the letter states. "The same cannot be said about the rushed efforts of the current DOL to push through a rule which makes changes as extreme as they are unnecessary."
Stefanik Re-Introduces the Modern Worker Empowerment Act to Protect Independent Contractors
September 15, 2023 // Congresswoman Elise Stefanik reintroduced the Modern Worker Empowerment Act, along with Congressman Kevin Kiley (CA-03) and Congresswoman Michelle Steel (CA-45), to update the Fair Labor Standards Act and the National Labor Relations Act to create a clear definition and standard across federal laws to protect independent workers. This comes as the Biden Administration’s Department of Labor is finalizing a new rule to create an obtuse multi-factor test that will undoubtedly lead to confusion for workers and take away opportunities from these individuals. With multitudes of differing state and federal statutes regulating independent contractors, the Modern Worker Empowerment Act will provide much needed clarity and stability for the American independent worker ensuring opportunities regardless of which state they reside.
Kiley, Foxx Intro Bill to Keep Labor Secretary Role Temporary
July 28, 2023 // "For the sake of job creators and working Americans, Biden must pull Su," she wrote. "Instead, he has stretched the law to bypass a Senate confirmation process. Par for the course for a president accustomed to flouting the law to get his way. I am pleased to support Rep. Kiley's bill to clarify federal law, putting an end to this administration's efforts to skirt the law at the expense of workers and job creators." H.R. 4957, the Department of Labor Succession Act, clarifies federal law to ensure that the tenure of an Acting Secretary of Labor aligns with the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (Vacancies Act). On July 20, Su became the longest serving cabinet member.
Was This The Plan All Along?
July 26, 2023 // Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, asked the Biden Administration Thursday to withdraw the nomination and warned that “(A)ny attempts to bypass the will of Congress, especially its constitutionally mandated advice and consent role, is unacceptable.” Su was the deputy labor secretary until her predecessor, Marty Walsh, left to take over the NHL players union, triggering her acting secretary status. Typically, under a law called the Vacancies Act, Su, who was nominated about four months ago, would have a 210-day time limit – for her, that’s mid-October – to her “acting” term. However, the Labor department has its own “succession statute” which states that the deputy becomes the acting secretary automatically and shall “perform the duties of the Secretary until a successor is appointed…” The labor statue has no time limit – confusion aspect one. The second issue is that Su’s nomination is still technically “pending” before the Senate.