Washington Legislative Update August 14 2020

Congress Dithers Over Pandemic Aid. Nicely, the replace is that there isn’t a replace. Each Republicans and Democrats proceed to dig of their heels over a fourth federal pandemic reduction package deal. Whereas many stories give attention to the trillion greenback hole between the events’ positions, it might not be simply the sum of money within the deal that’s the sticking level. For instance, there was no indication of a breakthrough relating to a deal round legal responsibility protections for employers. Many observers are actually speculating that negotiations might proceed into September 2020, when a looming authorities funding deadline might come into play.

President Points Pandemic-Associated Memoranda. After all, on account of congressional inaction on a fourth coronavirus reduction package deal, on August 8, 2020, President Donald Trump issued 4 memoranda to handle the payroll tax, the eviction moratorium, unemployment insurance coverage, and pupil mortgage reduction. Now we have the inside track on the unemployment insurance coverage memorandum that established a “misplaced wages help program,” and Michael Okay. Mahoney, Shivam Okay. Bimal, and Randle B. Pollard have the main points on the payroll tax deferral memorandum. Moreover, on August 12, 2020, the U.S. Division of Labor issued technical help for states on the implementation of the misplaced wages help program.

New Steering on the Visa Ban. On August 12, 2020, the U.S. Division of State issued steerage explaining the varieties of journey that could possibly be included throughout the June 22, 2020, presidential proclamation’s exception for people whose journey to the US is within the nationwide curiosity. For H-1B candidates, exceptions embody:

“journey as a public well being or healthcare skilled, or researcher to alleviate the results of the COVID-19 pandemic, or to conduct ongoing medical analysis in an space with a considerable public well being profit”;

journey “to fulfill crucial U.S. international coverage aims or to fulfill treaty or contractual obligations”;

journey “to renew ongoing employment in the US in the identical place with the identical employer and visa classification”; and

“[t]ravel by technical specialists, senior degree managers, and different employees whose journey is important to facilitate the fast and continued financial restoration of the US,” if sure prescribed standards are happy.

Related, however not equivalent, standards are relevant to L-1 candidates searching for exceptions.

EEOC to Deal with Conciliation. The U.S. Equal Employment Alternative Fee (EEOC) introduced that it’s going to maintain a public assembly on August 18, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. jap time, to debate a discover of proposed rulemaking on conciliation. In keeping with the newest regulatory agenda, the EEOC will concern a proposal to “revise current rules to reinforce the effectiveness of the conciliation course of and supply larger readability for all stakeholders.” The EEOC’s statutory requirement to aim to resolve discrimination prices by way of conciliation has been the topic of great coverage debates through the years, and it will likely be attention-grabbing to see if this proposal gives some readability for stakeholders.

OFCCP Information. The Workplace of Federal Contract Compliance Applications (OFCCP) introduced a number of new initiatives this week to help federal contractors’ compliance with their nondiscrimination and affirmative motion obligations. First, OFCCP will conduct a webinar on the TRICARE last rule on August 31, 2020, from 2:00 p.m. to three:00 p.m. jap time. Second, OFCCP introduced the launch of a Nationwide Pre-Award Registry instrument, which lists contractors that had been discovered to be in compliance with their equal employment alternative obligations within the final two years. This instrument is prone to be useful for contractors throughout the procurement course of. Lastly, OFCCP launched a Vietnam Period Veterans’ Readjustment Help Act of 1974 (VEVRAA) hiring benchmark database meant to help contractors in calculating their hiring benchmarks for coated veterans.

Will Harris Observe the Dem Veep Sample? After all, the key information in Washington, D.C., this week was presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s choice of Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) as his working mate within the November 2020 presidential election. Future editions of the Buzz could have extra on what a possible Biden/Harris administration might imply for employers. Wanting past this 12 months, many political pundits predict Senator Harris to be the Democratic presidential candidate in 2024, particularly if she and former vp Biden prevail in November. Whereas Biden’s age is an element on this prediction, historical past can also be a information: each Democratic vp since Lyndon Johnson (Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, Al Gore, and Biden) has subsequently develop into the Democratic nominee for president.