. 1. Comp Time—Having failed in the 104th Congress, anti-worker lawmakers aimed their guns at working families again with the first bill of the 105th . H.R. 1 would allow employers to pay workers in compensatory time off instead of cash for overtime hours. While it called for voluntary agreements between employees and employers, employers held the upper hand, and penalties for violating the voluntary provisions were toothless. Additionally, many working families count on overtime to balance the family budget. The bill passed March 19 by a 222-210 vote. Y=W, N=R (DEM: 13-191; REP: 209-18) . 2. Budget Reconciliation/Spending—Budget reconciliation legislation combines federal spending priorities for a fiscal year and any changes in tax laws. Opposed by the AFL-CIO, the spending portion (H.R. 2015) of the House reconciliation package allowed for privatization of federal and state welfare programs, denied workfare workers most labor law protections, allowed some Medicaid funding to be awarded to states as block grants with no federal guidelines and made changes in unemployment law that would deny unemployment benefits to hundreds of thousands of eligible jobless workers. H.R. 2015 passed June 26 by a 270-162 vote. Y=W, N=R (DEM: 51-154; REP: 219-7) . 3. Budget Reconciliation/Taxes—The Republican-crafted tax portion of reconciliation (H.R. 2014) was a gift to the wealthy but contained only token tax relief for the middle class and working poor. While a $500 child care tax credit would be available to families earning up to $110,000, it was unavailable to a family of four earning $20,000 or less. The bill also contained a capital gains tax cut, reduced the estate taxes on wealthy individuals and reduced the alternative minimum tax on corporations and the rich. Overall, the wealthiest 1 percent of taxpayers would get a $27,155 tax cut, while in virtually every case working poor families would receive nothing. In addition, the legislation contained a provision reclassifying millions of employees as independent contractors, depriving them of health and pension benefits, overtime and even requiring them to pay the employers’ share of Social Security and Medicare. The bill passed June 26 by a 253-179 vote. Y=W, N=R (DEM: 27-177; REP: 226-1) . 4. Worker Protections—The Employment Standards Administration is the government agency that investigates and enforces labor laws such as the minimum wage and child labor, the Davis-Bacon, Service Contract and Family and Medical Leave acts and anti-sweatshop regulations. But when the FY 1998 Labor/Health and Human Services spending bill (H.R. 2264) was being considered, an amendment to slash $4.3 million from the ESA was introduced. The amendment was defeated Sept. 5 by a 167-260 vote. Y=W, N=R (DEM: 3-200; REP: 164-59). . 5. National Labor Relations Board—The NLRB has been a favorite target of anti-worker lawmakers and their corporate allies who spend millions to squash organizing efforts by their workers. Budget cuts have resulted in an 11 percent decrease in NLRB staffing since 1992, yet the case load has risen tremendously, resulting in investigation backlogs and delays in enforcing board decisions because of the shortage of attorneys to handle the cases. An amendment was offered to the FY 1998 Labor/Health and Human Services appropriations bill to cut the NLRB’s funding by another 15 percent. The amendment failed Sept.10 by a 170-253 vote. Y=W, N=R (DEM: 6-194; REP: 164-58.) . 6. Davis-Bacon Act—In another swipe at working families, Congress took aim at construction workers’ paychecks in the District of Columbia with a provision in the FY 1998 D.C. spending bill to waive the Davis-Bacon Act for school construction and repair. The act ensures that workers on federal and federally funded construction projects (such as D.C. schools) receive the local prevailing wage. This prevents contractors from slashing wages in order to win contracts with low-ball bids and shoddy construction, which could put children’s safety at risk. An amendment to strike the anti-Davis-Bacon provision was introduced and it passed Oct. 9 by a 234-188 vote. Y=R, N=W (DEM: 195-5; REP: 38-183) . 7. Rail Worker Protections—Rail unions and Amtrak had been engaged in sometimes heated disputes over various labor reform and worker protections spelled out in laws governing Amtrak. One of the major issues was proposed changes in severance and contracting practices. An amendment to the FY 1998 Amtrak reauthorization bill (H.R. 2247) made changes in the law to bring the issues to the bargaining table and also ensured a fair and balanced process. In an effort to derail the measure, a substitute to the bill was offered that would have blocked rail unions and Amtrak from negotiating over the labor reform issues. The substitute, opposed by the AFL-CIO and rail unions, was defeated Oct. 24 by a 195-223 vote. Y=W, N=R (DEM: 5-196; REP: 190-26) . 8. Education—H.R. 2646 would have opened the floodgates to privatizing education and stripped scarce resources from the nation’s public schools. The AFL-CIO and the Teachers have fought hard to improve the quality of public education, to raise standards and improve student achievement. But school vouchers would drain funds from public education, enrich exclusive private schools and place children remaining in public schools at a disadvantage. The anti-public school bill was defeated Nov. 4 by a 191-228 vote. Y=W, N=R (DEM: 4-192; REP: 187-35) . * FAST TRACK *— Fast Track legislation was scheduled for a vote in the House November 10. But earlier that fall, the AFL-CIO and affiliate unions launched a massive drive against the Fast Track trade scheme that generated 800,000 phone calls, three-quarters of a million post cards and hundreds of rallies. When it became clear to GOP leaders that there were not enough votes to pass Fast Track, the legislation was pulled from the floor. However, most representatives had made commitments on the issue and those are included in this Voting Record.