GOP pushes vote to overturn OSHA ergonomics rule

Senate Republican leaders on Tuesday plan to bring up a controversial resolution to repeal a Clinton administration workplace safety rule dealing with ergonomics. A spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., meanwhile, said the House could act on a resolution of disapproval as early as next week if the Senate passes the legislation.

Republicans will seek to overturn the rule using the Congressional Review Act (CRA), leaving opponents with few opportunities to resist. "There's nothing we can do to stop this," said a spokesman for Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn. "It's already done."

The ergonomics rule, issued late in the Clinton administration, requires employers to take action to prevent and compensate employees who experience problems such as repetitive motion disorders that are aggravated by their work. The rule applies both to private firms and to federal agencies.

The CRA allows Congress to reject federal regulations within 60 days by taking up a joint resolution of disapproval. In the Senate, the resolution can either go through committee or straight to the floor if Republicans garner 30 signatures. It is privileged, so Republicans can bring it up at any time.

The measure is debatable for 10 hours and cannot be filibustered. Democrats are exploring whether they can filibuster the motion to proceed to the measure. But Senate Parliamentarian Bob Dove said that motion is not debatable.

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee ranking Democrat Edward Kennedy, Mass., released a "Dear Colleague" in which he argued that overturning the ergonomics rule would prevent OSHA from adopting "any substantially similar rule without express congressional authorization. It's an all-or-nothing proposition." But a Senate aide said OSHA could regulate ergonomics in the future as long as its rule was not "substantially similar" to the one overturned.

As for whether Republicans can overturn the rule, the Republican aide said, "We wouldn't set off down this path if we didn't know how it was going to turn out."

The GOP may find help from some Democrats. A spokesman for Sen. Ernest (Fritz) Hollings, D-S.C., said he would vote for the disapproval measure because he opposes any labor regulations while the economy is growing so slowly.

In an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," meanwhile, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said the House would follow the Senate's lead. "We're working very hard to get rid of [the ergonomics rules] and come back and really do something meaningful and reasonable."

Yet some House Democrats doubt that Republicans have the votes to pass the joint resolution in that chamber. "The number of Democratic defectors is probably in the single digits, so we have to pick up 20 Republicans," Rep. Rob Andrews, D-N.J., told CongressDaily. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer on Monday said a statement of administration policy on the issue has not yet been released, although he indicated one would be put forward. "The president is concerned about the health and safety of workers," Fleischer said, "but he's also concerned about excessive regulation."

In a letter to members of Congress Monday, National Treasury Employees Union president Colleen M. Kelley said repealing the OSHA rules would "set back the clock on workplace safety and health." Federal agencies, she noted, employ large numbers of women and office workers, who are particularly at risk for the repetitive motion disorders covered by the ergonomics rules.