“Global Warming” Bill Could be Cooled in Senate

Recently, we broke down the U.S. House vote approving climate change legislation that might be better referred to as a national energy tax. That was step one in a process that the Obama administration is trying to put on the fast track.

Early indications are that the Senate will have a more difficult time than the House in passing HR 2454. California’s Barbara Boxer, chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee, is expected to begin hearings on Tuesday. Her goal is to mark up legislation modeled on the House bill (capping greenhouse gas emissions and mandating increased energy from renewable sources) before the August recess.

Other Senate committees — Agriculture, Finance and Foreign Relations — are expected to weigh in with mid-September deadlines.

As was the case in the House, moderates and senators from coal-producing states will be the key votes. The focus is expected to be on about 15 Democrats, including Indiana’s Evan Bayh, who fall into one of those categories.

The U.S. Chamber offers this concise primer on the terms and issues involved in the global warming debate. The battle will continue.

Ledbetter Act a Lead Weight for Businesses

The Indiana Chamber believes the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (S. 181) will do serious harm to America’s businesses in a time when they need anything but more burdens.

The bill recently passed the U.S. Senate, with Indiana’s Senators splitting their votes (Bayh in favor, Lugar against). Our position is that the bill effectively removes the statute of limitations for the vast majority of discrimination cases and would make it easier to sue employers — even decades after the fact.

This legislation responds to the Supreme Court’s decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, 550 U.S. 618, 127 S. Ct. 2162 (2007). Lilly Ledbetter was a Goodyear employee from 1979 to 1998. Around her retirement, Ledbetter filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging pay discrimination because from time to time over the course of her career she received lower pay increases than male co-workers. The Supreme Court ruled that she was required to bring suit within 180 days of the act of discrimination (each decision by her employer to pay her less) and rejected her argument that each paycheck should restart the clock with respect to filing her discrimination lawsuit involving events that happened many years prior. Now, S. 181 would overturn the Ledbetter decision and specify that the statutes of limitations under four discrimination statutes — protecting classes such as age, disability, race, color, religion, sex and national origin — begin anew each time an individual is compensated (if the compensation was affected), essentially eliminating time limits for many claims.

If enacted, this legislation would virtually eliminate the statute of limitations for pay discrimination claims, increase potential damages for employees, limit employer defenses and expand class-action lawsuits. It would make it very difficult to resolve cases in a timely manner and make it more expensive to hire new workers (due to increased litigation costs).

The U.S. Chamber also opposes the measure. Check out their response here.

UPDATE: It’s official as President Obama signed the Ledbetter Act into law on January 29. If you visit its page on Whitehouse.gov, you can view the full text and let the administration know your opinion about this law.

Georgia Feeling Ripped by Rippers

The U.S. Chamber’s blog had an interesting post today about the problematic nature of counterfeiting and piracy and their impact on legitimate economies. Namely, it seems Georgia is especially plagued by these problems. (Is that why they call it Hot-lanta?):

The U.S. Chamber has sponsored a Gallup study which took a look at the impact of counterfeiting and piracy in Atlanta. The survey found that nearly 1 in 5 consumers have purchased an illicit product in the past year; 41 percent in the 18-24 age group have purchased an illicit product in that period; more than 80 percent say the ability to easily obtain them influenced their purchase decision; and a majority greatly underestimate the economic impact of these crimes. Despite the high incidence of these crimes, a vast majority of respondents favor tougher laws and penalties against these crimes.

The prevalence of counterfeiting and piracy in Atlanta should alarm consumers, the business community, and governments alike. Where these crimes exist, consumer health and safety, workers’ jobs, companies’ reputations, and government revenues are at stake. 

Regarding the 1 in 5 consumers part, that’s not surprising. In fact, consider me guilty as charged. But the only reason I purchased that bootlegged street copy of "You Don’t Mess with the Zohan" was that I simply could not wait until its official DVD release. What’s a guy to do?

Is Educational Burden Being Shifted to Businesses?

The U.S. Chamber offers an interesting post regarding education in the United States.

The author surmises:

Particularly in highly technical fields, such as computer science, private training is often tailored to the specific needs of a company or niche industry.  While earning a masters degree might provide one with a broad foundation of knowledge and skills, it is almost always necessary to have that training be finely tuned to the needs of their employers.  Regardless of where the training takes place, it becomes a marketable skill for the employee to take elsewhere … According to the 2008 Corporate Learning Factbook, the business community is subsidizing this educational enrichment to the tune of $58.5 billion each year, mirroring the federal government’s investment in education.

In related news, check out the Ready Indiana program to see how the Indiana Chamber is helping the business community make the right connections for workforce training needs.

So what do you think? Has the educational ceiling in America been reached? Is this an indictment of public education or just an inevitable paradigm shift? What, if anything, should be done to change it?