July 2011 issue of HR News magazine - IPMA

WASHINGTON UPDATE
The Healthy Families Act was
reintroduced on May 12, 2011, by
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro
(D-Conn.) and Senator Tom Harkin
(D-Iowa). The Act, which was introduced
with 83 House and 18 Senate
cosponsors, would require employers to
provide up to seven days of paid sick
leave per year to employees who could
use the time off for their own illness or
that of a family member.
Break Time for Nursing Mothers – The
Department of Labor issued a request
for information on employers’ responsibility
to provide breaks and a place for
nursing mothers to express milk. The
request was issued on Dec. 21, 2010.
The DOL’s request clarifies the language
regarding breaks, the space that must
be provided and penalties for failing to
comply. IPMA-HR analyzed the request
and that document is available in the
government affairs section of the IPMA-
HR Web site under “fact sheets”
(http://www.ipma-hr.org/public-sector-hrcommunity/public-policy/fact-sheets).
Pension Reform – Efforts to reform the
way states and localities report and fund
their pension liabilities are likely to be at
the top of lawmakers’ agendas
throughout this session of Congress. On
Feb. 9, 2011, Representative Devin
Nunes (R-Calif.) reintroduced the “Public
Employee Pension Transparency Act,”
which would require states and localities
to report the level of pension funding
using private sector assumptions. The
private sector reporting requirements do
not reflect the realities of the public
sector. Public sector plans are already
heavily regulated and follow the
Governmental Accounting Standards
Board (GASB) recommendations for
reporting liabilities.
The House Subcommittee on Oversight
of the House Ways and Means
Committee held a hearing on May 5 on
the Public Employee Pension
Transparency Act. IPMA-HR joined the
National League of Cities, the National
Association of Counties and other state
and local groups in opposing the
measure. On Feb. 1, 2011, IPMA-HR
joined several other state and local
groups on a joint fact sheet on state
and local government pensions, setting
straight the record regarding the opera-
tions and funding of public pensions, the
degree to which they fit in the overall
budget picture at the state and local
level, and the steps state and local
governments are taking to bring their
pension plans into long-term solvency.
The fact sheet and letters are available
on the IPMA-HR government affairs Web
site under the heading “advocacy.”
Mandatory Social Security – A measure
requiring Social Security coverage of all
state and local government employees
is expected to be introduced this spring.
Proponents of the legislation believe it
will generate revenue and often frame it
as an issue of “fairness.” IPMA-HR
opposes the measure because it would
undermine current pension plans and is
unlikely to provide long-term retirement
security.
Employment Non-Discrimination Act –
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act,
H.R. 1397, was reintroduced on April 6,
2011 by Representative Barney Frank (D-
Mass.). The bill would prohibit employment
discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation or gender identity. It
has 120 cosponsors in the House of
Representatives. A companion bill, S.
811, was introduced on April 16, 2011
by Senator Merkley (D-Ore.) and has 39
cosponsors.
Paycheck Fairness Act – Bills (H.R.
1519, S. 797) that would allow for
unlimited punitive and compensatory
damages for violations of the Equal Pay
Act were reintroduced on Apr. 12 by
DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Senator Barbara
Milkulski (D-Md.). Passage this year is
very unlikely. IPMA-HR remains opposed
to the measure as it would increase litigation
and not address any underlying
issues that contribute to the wage
disparity.
Mandatory Collective Bargaining –
IPMA-HR expects the Public Safety
Employer-Employee Cooperation Act
(PSEECA) to be reintroduced in the
112th Congress but passage is unlikely.
The Senate failed to invoke cloture on
Dec. 8, falling short of the 60 votes
needed to advance the bill. IPMA-HR and
several other local government associations
have been active opponents of the
measure, which would require states to
create collective bargaining laws for
public safety and authorize a federal
agency to determine when states are in
compliance with a federal law—an
unprecedented intrusion into state and
local government police power. If a state
fails to create a satisfactory bargaining
law, that state will be subject to regulations
developed by the Federal Labor
Relations Authority (FLRA).
IPMA-HR joined other public sector
groups in submitting testimony in opposition
to H.R. 413 at the Mar. 10, 2010
hearing before the House Subcommittee
on Health Employment Labor and
Pensions. IPMA-HR executive director
Neil E. Reichenberg testified against the
bill before a house subcommittee in the
110th Congress.
Employer Provided Educational
Assistance – Section 127 of the
Internal Revenue Code was extended for
two years as part of a tax extender bill
signed into law by President Obama on
Dec. 17, 2010. Section 127 allows
employees to exclude up to $5,250 of
employer-provided educational assistance
for both graduate and undergraduate
programs. In June 2010,
Representatives Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.)
and Sam Johnson (R-Texas) introduced
H.R. 5600 to make Section 127 permanent.
IPMA-HR joined the Coalition to
Preserve Employer Provided Educational
Assistance.
Healthcare Reform – In Aug. 2010,
IPMA-HR commented on the Interim Final
Regulations on the status of grandfathered
plans under the new healthcare
reform law and on the annual limits. The
Departments of Treasury, Labor and
Health and Human Services adopted the
regulations under the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act and the Health
Care and Education Reconciliation Act.
The comments are available on the
IPMA-HR advocacy pages.
Age Discrimination – The EEOC issued
a notice of proposed rulemaking on
February 18, 2010, addressing the
meaning of “reasonable factors other
than age” (RFOA) under the Age
Discrimination in Employment Act
(ADEA). The proposed rule emphasizes
the need for an individualized, case-bycase
approach to determining whether
an employment practice is based on
reasonable factors other than age. It
also emphasizes that the RFOA defense
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