President Obama signs Dodd-Frank financial reform bill expanding whistleblower protections, and addressing other employment-related provisions.  President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 4173) on July 21, enacting a broad package of financial industry reforms that represent a sweeping overhaul of the regulation of US financial services and markets. The Senate passed the bill on July 15 and the House passed it on June 30. A main priority of the Obama administration, the historic reform bill includes several important employment-related provisions. Key among them: an expansion of protections afforded to whistleblowers reporting violations of securities law or violations of commodities law—and new private rights of action to enforce them.

House Committee approves mine safety legislation that includes broader workplace safety reforms.   In a 30-17 vote, the House Education and Labor Committee approved legislation July 21 to reform the nation’s mine and worker safety laws. Called the Robert C. Byrd Miner Safety and Health Act (H.R. 5663), the legislation would provide strong tools to not only ensure that mine operators with troubling safety records improve conditions and empower workers to speak up about safety concerns, but would also extend similar worker protections in other workplaces such as refineries, power plants, and food-processing facilities in order to hold employers accountable if they knowingly put their workers in danger.

Senate Judiciary Committee approves Kagan nomination. President Obama’s pick for the US Supreme Court, Elena Kagan, moved one step closer to confirmation when, on July 20, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-6 to approve her nomination. Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) was the only Republican to join the Democrats on the committee in approving Kagan’s nomination; he also approved the nomination of Justice Sonia Sotomayor. “Elena Kagan is one of this country’s leading legal minds, and has shown throughout this process that, if confirmed, she would be a fair and impartial Supreme Court Justice who understands how decisions made by the Court affect the lives of everyday Americans,” said Obama in a statement.

Pension Law Top of Page

President names Gotbaum as Director of PBGC.  President Obama has announced the recess appointment of Joshua Gotbaum as Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Gotbaum, currently an Operating Partner at Blue Wolf Capital, has for three decades helped manage and advise public, private, and nonprofit institutions. During the Clinton Administration, Gotbaum was Executive Associate Director and Controller in the Office of Management and Budget, Assistant Secretary of Treasury for Economic Policy, and Assistant Secretary of Defense.

Payroll Top of Page

President signs legislation to extend unemployment benefits.  PAfter weeks of debate, Congress finally approved the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act legislation (H.R. 4213) which retroactively reinstates federal unemployment insurance for some 2.5 million unemployed workers who lost their benefits when the program expired June 2 and extend those benefits through November 2010. After overcoming a GOP filibuster, the Senate was forced to wait 30 hours before approving the $33.9 billion bill on July 21 in a 59-39 vote; the House, which had passed its own larger extenders bill on July 1, concurred on the standalone measure today in a 272-152 vote. Unlike other extensions, the bill does not reinstate the expired COBRA premium subsidy, which expired on May 31.

In signing the legislation, President Obama noted that the employment insurance extension was needed to restore desperately needed assistance to two and a half million Americans who lost their jobs in the recession. “After a partisan minority used procedural tactics to block the authorization of this assistance three separate times over the past weeks, Americans who are fighting to find a good job and support their families will finally get the support they need to get back on their feet during these tough economic times,” Obama said. “Now it’s time for Congress to act on more proposals that support our economic recovery, including passing critical aid to our states and support to small businesses. Small businesses are the engine of job growth, and measures to cut their taxes and make lending available should not be held hostage to partisan tactics like those that unconscionably held up unemployment insurance.”