The passage of the federal budget reconciliation bill, otherwise known as the Build Back Better Act, in the U.S. House of Representatives last month means that the Democratic led Senate will now take it on. The massive bill has several provisions taken straight from the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, an organized labor-backed bill strongly opposed by the business community.

Because the PRO Act would need 60 votes to overcome a Senate filibuster and make its way to the president’s desk, congressional Democrats instead chose to insert several elements into the reconciliation bill, which would only need a simple majority to pass. The labor provisions’ inclusion in the larger bill, however, would need to be approved by the Senate parliamentarian.

Pieces from the original legislation that made their way into the Build Back Better Act include:

• Financial penalties–Allow for the National Labor Relations Board to assess up to $50,000 for each violation and $100,000 for repeat violations of fair labor practices. Additionally, these penalties would be applicable to a director or officer of the employer if the NLRB determines that they “directed or committed the violation, had established a policy that led to such a violation, or had actual or constructive knowledge of and the authority to prevent the violation and failed to prevent the violation.”
• Increased Funding–Approximately $2 billion in new funding is allocated in the bill for the Department of Labor and split...

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