Annnnd We're Back: Legislative Update. We appreciate this audience bearing with us as this newsletter has been on a short hiatus in light of some scheduling issues. During that brief respite numerous different pieces of legislation have moved in different legislative bodies. First, on the federal side, during the last week in June, the House Committee on Appropriations met to mark up a number of bills delineating FY 2023 appropriations for a variety of departments including Justice, Labor, Commerce, Agriculture, and others. For example, proposed legislation would appropriate $242.1 billion to labor health and other related agencies — an increase of $28.5 billion, or 13 percent. The bill provides a total of $15 billion in discretionary appropriations for the DOL, an increase of $1.9 billion above the FY 2022 enacted level and $125 million above the President's budget request; and would appropriate $2.2 billion for Worker Protection Agencies, including the Wage and Hour Division ($62 million increase), OSHA ($712 million increase), and OFCCP ($147 million increase).
As Seyfarth explained here, we noted here and here, and podcasted earlier this year, Congress recently passed and the president signed H.R. 4445, permitting persons alleging sexual assault or harassment to do so in court, even if the aggrieved person signed a pre-dispute agreement to arbitrate all claims. In light of the passage of that bill, as Seyfarth explained here, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority...
Rep. Eric Swalwell on Friday forcefully denied allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, saying in a public statement and a video posted to social media that the claims are false and politicall...