THE DAVIS DOCKET

Dear 7^thDistrict Constituent,

During the week of February 27th - March 2nd, President Trump addressed the Congress and talked about his vision for the country (without providing concrete details).  You can read my response here.  The Congress continued the Administration's goal to repeal certain rules and regulations implemented under the Obama Administration.  Many of these rules were developed for work protections.  H. Res. 156 quietly disapproves of the Rule issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) to standardize the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) record keeping of work-related injuries and illnesses for five years.  Since 1972, every administration has maintained that the five-year retention period for recording work-related injuries, illnesses or deaths is standard practice, and this DOL rule was simply put in place to codify and create some consistency that will benefit both employers and employees.  Under the terms of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) process, H.J.Res. 83, if adopted and signed by President Trump, will not only nullify, in one brief, partisan debate, this rule that helps protect working Americans but it will prevent DOL from considering a “substantially similar” rule in the future.

To stay informed with happenings on the Hill, please download on your iPhone or iPad, the WHIP Watch. It is the most recent  comprehensive tool to follow Congress. You will get real-time updates on floor activities, legislative actions, and recent videos from the Democratic Whip office. Let me know if you need any assistance and feel free to share feedbacks.

This week in Washington…

The SCRUB Act - This bill would establish an un-elected, nine-member commission to review existing federal rules and regulations and identify those they determine should be repealed. H.R, 998 is based on the faulty premises that regulations have an adverse impact on economic growth, job creation, and innovation.  In fact, H.R. 998 would make it easier to roll back existing regulations that promote health and safety in communities and at the workplace, protect the environment, and safeguard consumers, and make it harder for every department and agency in the federal government to issue new ones.  H.R. 998 would create a “regulatory cut-go” procedure not dependent on congressional approval that would require any agency issuing a new regulation to repeal an existing regulation of greater or equal value within its jurisdiction that the commission has determined should be abolished.  

OIRA Insight, Reform and Accountability Act - This bill would significantly alter the function of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).  Currently, OIRA reviews significant draft rules from agencies, other than independent agencies, and can clear the rules with or without changes, or return the rules to agencies for reconsideration, and can encourage the agencies to withdraw them; for rules that have a $100 million impact on the economy, OIRA reviews the economic analyses and potential impact of implementation.  This legislation could hinder the independence of federal agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Federal Communications Commission, and subject rules promulgated by those agencies to political review by the White House.  During the Obama Administration, Republicans regularly warned against “executive overreach” and “inflated bureaucracy.”  Now they are trying to centralize control of independent agencies by subjecting them to review by the White House and creating a process that can ultimately come to a standstill.  

I was honored to receive the Debbie’s Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer Congressional Award.

If you would like to know my position on these bills or share with me your concern on any particular issues, please call my office in Chicago or Washington DC. As always, your comments are important and valuable to help me improving our District. I am more than happy to hear more of your ideas on what we can do.

Most Sincerely,

Questions or concerns, please contact us via 773-533-7520 or 202-225-5006