No images? Click here House Unveils Biden $1.75 Trillion Spending Plan Text; Progressives Wary of Vote Timing President Joe Biden unveiled a framework for his tax and social spending plan totaling $1.75 trillion in an effort to push lawmakers toward a deal he said could make or break their political futures. But House progressives maintained they wouldn’t vote for the bipartisan infrastructure package before they are assured the larger spending bill could pass the Senate. House progressives on Thursday, October 28, 2021, dug in on their threat to oppose a $550 billion infrastructure bill if Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) brings it to a vote before they see legislative text of a separate, $1.75 trillion tax and spending package and are assured it could pass the Senate. By mid-afternoon on Thursday October 28, the House had posted a 1,684-page bill containing much of President Joe Biden’s social-spending plan, a hopeful sign that that measure could move quickly. But key Senate holdouts Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) had not yet endorsed the legislation. Therefore, with no vote scheduled on infrastructure last week and the previous short-term 30 day authorization for surface transportation funds expiring on October 31, 2021, the House of Representatives were forced to pass another temporary extension for highway funding to keep those programs going until December 3, 2021. Read a summary of the $1.75 Trillion Spending plan HERE Senate Confirms First Workplace Safety Chief Since Obama EraThe U.S. Senate signed off on California safety regulator Doug Parker taking the reins of the U.S. Department of Labor’s workplace safety arm, giving the agency its first confirmed leader since the Obama era. Parker, who played a central role in developing California’s Covid-19 workplace safety rule, will lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, an agency on the front lines of the federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. He was most recently head of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, commonly known as Cal/OSHA. The Senate voted 50-41 Monday to confirm Parker as assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. The vote comes amid Republican opposition to President Joe Biden’s directive for OSHA to write an emergency rule to require private-sector companies with 100 or more employees to ensure workers are vaccinated against Covid-19 or tested weekly. The White House regulatory office is reviewing the rule, and its release is imminent. The agency didn’t have a Senate-confirmed leader at any point during the Trump administration. David Michaels, the last OSHA head to win the Senate’s blessing, left the agency in January 2017 after a seven-year tenure. Senate Bill Would Boost OSHA Funding and Direct New Hiring The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is seeking additional input on its planned heat injury and illness prevention rule, according to an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking appearing in the Federal Register Tuesday, October 26, 2021. OSHA had transmitted notice of its request for information to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs last month. Issues the agency seeks comment on include heat stress thresholds, heat acclimatization planning, exposure monitoring, and medical monitoring, according to RFI documents. The decision to consider a heat stress regulation is an about face for the agency, which turned down petitions to undertake such a rulemaking during the Obama and Trump administrations. Just a few states—including Washington, California, and Minnesota—have rules on the books addressing the safety of those toiling in record heat. The heat-related death of a worker at Ernst Nursery and Farms in Oregon last summer reignited the conversation about exposure to extreme temperatures there. Read the advance notice of proposed rulemaking HERE. Democrats Detail Tax Hike AlternativesDemocratic lawmakers on Tuesday, October 26, 2021, rolled out a pair of proposals to tax corporations and the wealthy without raising standard tax rates, their latest bid to find consensus behind revenue-raising measures to fund President Joe Biden’s economic agenda. Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) joined with Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Angus King (I-Maine) on Tuesday to release a proposed 15% minimum tax for corporations, which would apply to companies that report more than $1 billion in profits to shareholders. The minimum tax would apply to about 200 companies, according to a summary, and King estimated it would raise $300 billion to $400 billion over a 10-year window. In addition, Senator Wyden unveiled his plan to tax the unrealized capital gains of the ultra wealthy. The plan seeks to tap some of the $5 trillion in untaxed investment gains held by a group of 700 billionaires. Under current law, investment returns are taxed only when assets are sold. But Wyden claims billionaires rarely sell those assets, count them as income, or get taxed for them. Most assets would be subject to long-term capital gains tax, which is currently 23.8%. Some illiquid assets would face additional charges, but rates wouldn’t rise above 49%, according to a detailed outline of the plan. REMINDER: USDA Pandemic Response and Safety Grants Program – Warehouses EligibleOn October 6th, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the details of the Pandemic Response and Safety (PRS) Grant Program provides grants to food processors, warehouses, distributors, farmers markets, and producers to respond to coronavirus, including for measures to protect workers against COVID-19. Eligible companies can apply for grants up to $20,000 to help mitigate pandemic related expenses related to workplace safety (examples: PPE and sanitation), market pivots, retrofitting facilities for worker safety, transportation, worker housing and COVID health services. GCCA worked closely with USDA to ensure that warehouses are eligible to participate in the program and NAICS Code 493120 - Refrigerated Warehousing and Storage is specifically included. Warehouses must qualify as a “small business” to participate. The SBA designation for refrigerated warehousing is less than $30 million in annual revenue. It is important to note that only refrigerated warehousing and storage for food products are eligible under this code. More details are available in the grant announcement. GCCA warehouse members in the United States are strongly encouraged to learn more about the program and consider applying, if eligible. The deadline for applications is November 22, 2021. If you have not yet participated in our grassroots campaigns, but would like to take action to oppose the PRO Act or oppose the harmful tax hikes in the American Job’s Plan, click the Take Action tab above now.
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