Breaking News — A Day Late

I’m sorry to be late with the following news. Keep scrolling down until to get to the summary of this astounding development and then keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling.

———-

Congress Repeals COBRA, FMLA; Goes Back to Drawing Board

In a stunning move late Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 432-2 to repeal both the venerable Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) and the Family Medical Leave Act, asserting that the statutes had simply become unworkable for employers and that the government needs to rethink a new approach.

The Senate will take up the matter later this week, but Senate leaders say it will pass. The repeal is just part of a larger piece of legislation designed to ratchet down the costs imposed on employers under the weight of government regulation, particularly in the employee relations context.

The bill is titled, “The Employer Normalization of Ubiquitous Government Hegemony Act of 2009” (ENOUGH). Ironically, the House passed the bill on the same day the IRS issued 27 pages of question-and answer guidance on the COBRA subsidy provisions contained in the recent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), passed by Congress in February. Doubly ironic, the move comes just weeks after the U.S. Department of Labor put the finishing touches on final FMLA regulations, after years of effort. n a stunning move late Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 432-2 to repeal both the venerable Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) and the Family Medical Leave Act, asserting that the statutes had simply become unworkable for employers and that the government needs to rethink a new approach.

The Senate will take up the matter later this week, but Senate leaders say it will pass. The repeal is just part of a larger piece of legislation designed to ratchet down the costs imposed on employers under the weight of government regulation, particularly in the employee relations context. The bill is titled, “The Employer Normalization of Ubiquitous Government Hegemony Act of 2009” (ENOUGH).

Ironically, the House passed the bill on the same day the IRS issued 27 pages of question-andanswer guidance on the COBRA subsidy provisions contained in the recent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), passed by Congress in February. Doubly ironic, the move comes just weeks after the U.S. Department of Labor put the finishing touches on final FMLA regulations, after years of effort.

Lockton Comment:

What’s intriguing about this dizzying development is that Congress has rarely in recent years expressed any sympathy at all for employers, particularly when it comes to employers’ wrestling with an ever more tangled web of rules and regulations governing the employment relationship. Which compels us to ask:

What does Congress intend to put in the place of COBRA and the FMLA? The House bill, in its current form, will be effective retroactive to January 1, 2009. While not entirely clear, it appears the law will completely unwind the COBRA subsidy provisions in ARRA, even as employers scramble to implement ARRA’s rules.

The repeal of the FMLA will no doubt bring delight to many employers. A recent study noted that almost half of HR managers surveyed said the FMLA was their largest headache. Apparently some in Congress were listening.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker, and Rep. John Boehner, House Minority Leader, said in a joint prepared statement that Congress was tired of hearing from employers about the FMLA. “The economy will move forward on the backs of American business,” the statement said, “so I Compliance Alert Page 2 Congress needs to lessen the burden.” Speaking on the steps of the Capitol, Pelosi and Boehner, in a remarkable display of bipartisanship, reiterated that sentiment. Said Boehner, alluding to the Speaker, “As we wind on down the road…there walks a lady we all know who shines white light and wants to show how everything still turns to gold,” he said. Pelosi noted that Americans need to stop complaining and work together. “If you listen very hard the tune will come to you at last when all are one and one is all,” she mused, adding it was important for employers “to be a rock and not to roll.”

Congressional spokesperson April Fuhls put it more bluntly: “Employers’ constant whining made the FMLA our largest brain-ache too,” said Fuhls. “So this bill is like a couple of extrastrength Tylenol for us. Actually, it’s more than that, because the law is completely gone now. So it’s like we just cut open our heads and completely removed our brains . No brains, no ache. We couldn’t be more pleased.” The White House says President Obama will sign the bill. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs signaled that the White House may have had more than a little to do with the bill, noting that “sometimes you have to burn the barn down in order to build the barn you want. In this case, we’re burning two barns, and we’re going to build two new barns. Or maybe build one barn and one really nice shed. Or a log cabin. Those are neat.”

While we expect to learn more about the new law in the days and weeks ahead, here are additional details we can share with you now: Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah. Blablah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blablah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blablah blah blah blah blah blah blah blablah blah blah blah blah blah blah blablah blah blah blah blah blah blah blablah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blablah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blablah blah blah.

Oh, and don’t forget: Blablah blah blah blah blah blah blah blablah blah blah blah blah blah blah blablah blah blah blah blah blah blah blablah blah blah blah blah blah blah. In addition, blablah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

And note this: • Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah; • Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah; • Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah; and • Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Don’t miss the Lockton webcast on the new law: “Fantasy Island: Congress Makes Life Easier for Employers.”

–

Edward Fensholt J.D.