LABOR

Federal Employees
Ryan Said The Federal Workforce Had Gotten Too Large And Needed To Be Trimmed Back. According to Newsmax, President Obama has been requiring government agencies to reduce rather than increase outside contracting. In two years, he has increased federal government spending to 25 percent of the economy, from a modern average of between 20 and 21 percent. []Ryan said, We agree the federal workforce has gotten far too large and sluggish. We dont have the incentives to get productivity and efficiency. I think we need to trim back our workforce. Ryan cited the need for incentives to improve productivity and the need to cut workers through attrition. He said Republicans will begin addressing these issues this summer. Neither approach will make a big difference. The real solution is to cut the workforce by a third, forcing federal employees to work more efficiently. [Newsmax, 3/4/11]

Funding
Ryan Voted Against $150.7 Billion for Health, Education, and Labor Programs in 2008. On November 8, 2007, Ryan voted against appropriating $150.7 billion in fiscal 2008 for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and for related agencies. Specifically, the would provide $63.6 billion for the Education Department, including $14.5 billion for Pell Grants; $15 billion for the Labor Department, including $3.6 billion for training and employment services; and $30 billion for the National Institutes of Health. According to Congressional Quarterly Today, The bill would provide $150.7 billion for a variety of health, education and labor programs. The president has threatened to veto the bill because it would provide $9.8 billion more than he requested, which the White House says is excessive. [Roll Call 1075, H 3043, 11/08/2007; CQ Today, 11/08/07] Ryan Voted Against Increasing the Labor-HHS-Education Budget $7.2 Billion. On July 19, 2007, Ryan voted against a $607.4 billion labor, health and human services and education appropriations bill. According to Congressional Quarterly Weekly, The bill (HR 3043) would provide a total of $607 billion, including $151.7 billion in discretionary spending. President Bush objects to the bill chiefly because of its spending level. The discretionary total is $7.2 billion more than in fiscal 2007, $10.8 billion more than the presidents request and $2.5 billion more than the comparable Senate bill (S 1710). The White House issued a statement July 17 warning that the president would veto the measure. The bill, the White House said, includes an irresponsible and excessive level of spending and . . . other objectionable provisions. Bush would veto the bill because Congress did not stay within the presidents proposed overall cap for discretionary spending. [Roll Call 686, H 3043, 07/19/2007; Congressional Quarterly Weekly, 07/20/07] Ryan Voted for Funding Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Departments in 2006. On December 14, 2005, Ryan voted for the conference report on the bill that would appropriate $601.6 billion, including $142.5 billion in discretionary spending, for the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education departments and related agencies in fiscal 2006. It would provide $63.5 billion for the Education Department, including $13.2 billion for Pell Grants; $14.8 billion for the Labor Department, including $5.1 billion for training and employment services; and $474.1 billion for Health and Human Services, including $28.6 billion for the National Institutes of Health. The measure also would provide $400 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and $39 million for rural health outreach grants. [Roll Call 628, H 3010, 12/14/2005]

Minimum Wage and Fair Wage

MINIMUM WAGE
Ryan Voted to Increase Minimum Wage. In 2006, Ryan voted in favor of a bill that would increase the minimum wage $2.10, from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over two years, but attached to the increase was a permanent cut for the federal estate tax for estates worth up to $5 million per person and $10 million per couple. According to the Washington Post, House Republican leaders, bowing to pressure from their politically embattled moderates, agreed to seek a vote on raising the minimum wage, but House and Senate negotiations on a broad overhaul of the nations private pension laws broke up last night in intraparty acrimony. GOP leaders were scrambling yesterday to bolster a thin list of legislative accomplishments before the House recesses tonight for a five-week summer break. But a minimum-wage deal was far from certain, and pension legislation was near collapse. Last nights struggles underscored the divisions in Republican ranks that leaders had hoped to paper over before the August recess. [Roll Call 425, H 5970, 07/29/2006; CQ Today, 7/29/06; AP, 7/27/06; Washington Post, 7/28/06] Ryan Opposed Minimum Wage Increase. In 2007, Ryan voted against increasing the minimum wage by $2.10 an hour to $7.25 an hour. The measure passed 218-212 [Roll Call 186, H 1591, 03/23/2007; CQ House Action Reports, No. 110-3] Ryan Opposed Fair Minimum Wage Act. In 2007, Ryan voted against an increase to the federal minimum wage by $2.10 over two years -- from the previous level of $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour. The bill passed 315-116. [Roll Call 18, H 2, 01/10/2007] Ryan Voted To Raise The Minimum Wage. On March 9, 2000 Ryan voted to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and increase the minimum wage by $1 over two years. The bill passed 282-143. [Roll Call 45, H 3846, 03/09/2000] Ryan Voted Against An Amendment To Increase The Minimum Wage By $1 Over A 2 Year Period. On March 9, 2000 Ryan voted against an amendment to HR 3846 that would increase the minimum wage by $1 over a two year period. Originally the bill increased the minimum wage by $1 over a 3 year period. The amendment passed 246-179. The bill passed the house 282-143. [Roll Call 43, H 3846, 03/09/2000]

WAGE DISCRIMINATION
Ryan Voted Against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to Prevent Wage Discrimination. In 2009, Ryan voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The Senate measure was nearly identical to some provisions in the House passed version HR 11. The final bill allowed employees to sue employers for wage discrimination within 180 days of their last paycheck affected by the alleged discrimination. The measure was designed to overturn a 2007 Supreme Court decision (Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.) that ruled a worker could not bring a wage discrimination suit more than 180 days after the initial discriminatory act. The Senate version of the bill did not include a provision from HR 12 that would have required employers seeking to justify unequal pay for male and female workers to prove that such disparities are job-related and required by a business necessity. [Roll Call 37, S 181, 01/27/2009; CO House Action Reports Legislative Week, 1/26/09] Ryan Voted Against Paycheck Fairness Act. In 2009, Ryan voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act that would reverse the Supreme Courts 2007 decision Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. The bill would clarify that the statute of limitations applies afresh to each discriminatory paycheck. The court had ruled that workers suing for pay restitution had to do so within 180 days of the first discriminatory paycheck. [Roll Call 9, H 11, 01/09/2009; CQ Weekly, 1/12/09]

Ryan Voted against Eliminating Caps On Compensatory And Punitive Damages In Wage Discrimination Suits. In 2009, Ryan voted against eliminating caps on compensatory and punitive damages for successful wage discrimination suits. The bill also put the onus on employers to prove that pay discrepancies between women and men doing the same jobs are the result of non-discriminatory business considerations. The bill was combined with HR 11 and changed to create the final Wage Discrimination law with the senate S 181. The bill passed 256-163. [Roll Call 8, H 12, 01/09/2009; CQ WEEKLY WEEKLY REPORT, 1/12/09] Ryan Voted Against Paycheck Equity. In 2008, Ryan voted against a bill that would lift the cap on compensatory and punitive damages that women may be awarded in wage discrimination cases. The bill would also require employers who contended that pay discrepancies did not result from discrimination to give an actual business reason for why female employees were paid less than their male counterparts. Democrats argued that the bill would close some loopholes for pay discrimination. The current system is rife with loopholes that allowed employers to avoid responsibility for discriminatory pay scales, Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) said. Republicans criticized the legislation, saying that it would be fodder for frivolous lawsuits. This bill will make it easier for trial lawyers to cash in, and taxpayers should be outraged that their money is being put to such use, Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) said. [Roll Call 556, H 1338, 07/31/2008; CQ Today7/31/08] Ryan Voted against Protecting Employees from Wage Discrimination. In 2007, Ryan voted against a bill to protect the victims of wage discrimination. The bill amended the 1964 Civil Rights Act to allow employees to file charges of pay discrimination within 180 days of the last received paycheck affected by the alleged discriminatory decision. It also clarified that an employee is entitled to up to two years of back-pay if it is determined that discrimination occurred. The legislation was introduced in response to a May 29, 2007 Supreme Court ruling, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., a 5-4 ruling decried by civil rights activists. According to the ruling, workers filing suit for wage discrimination must do so within 180 days of the actual decision to discriminate against them. That blocked efforts to win redress for discrimination that unfolded in small steps over a period of years. The bill passed 225-199. [Roll Call 768, H 2831, 07/31/2007; Congressional Quarterly; CQ Today, 7/31/07]

National Labor Relations Board

Ryan Voted to Limit the National Labor Relations Boards Authority in Relocating Businesses, Which Democrats Argued Would Enable Businesses to Punish Union Workers and Move Businesses Overseas. In September, 2011 Ryan voted to prohibit the National Labor Relations Board from being able to order an employer to restore, shut down, or relocate business operations. According to Congressional Quarterly Today, the legislation was in response to an attempt by the boards acting general counsel to force airplane manufacturer Boeing Co. to locate a second production line for the 787 Dreamliner in Washington state. The NLRB complaint contends that the company decided to open the production line in South Carolina -- a state with a right-to-work law -- to retaliate against union workers in Washington who have gone on strike four times in the past 22 years. [...] In a series of impassioned floor speeches, Democrats said the bill would give companies a green light to punish workers for exercising their rights and make it easier to ship jobs overseas. They also called the measure a naked attempt to directly interfere in the pending Boeing case, noting a provision that would apply the bill retroactively to any complaint that has not been resolved by the date of enactment. The vote passed, 238 to 186. [Roll Call 711, H 2587, 09/15/2011; Congressional Quarterly Today, 9/15/11]

Unions
Ryan Voted For Two Month Waiting Period For a Unionization Vote After a Petition Was Filed. On November 30, 2011, Ryan voted for a 2 month waiting period for a unionization vote after a petition was filed. According to Congressional Quarterly Today, The House voted Wednesday to build waiting periods into the union election process, hours after the National Labor Relations Board took a step toward approving a new rule that would have the opposite effect. The bill (HR 3094), passed by a 235-188 vote, would require an interval of almost two months between the time workers file petitions to hold a unionization election and when the vote occurs. [Roll Call 869, H 3094, 11/30/2011; Congressional Quarterly Today, 11/30/11] Ryan Voted for Granting Limited Union Rights for Public Safety Personnel. On July 17, 2007, Ryan voted for the motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill that would establish certain organized labor rights for state and local public safety officials, including police officers and firefighters. According to the Washington Post, the bill would, grant limited union rights to police, firefighters, corrections officers and other public safety personnel in all states. At least 20 states deny collective-bargaining rights to public employees. The bill would empower state and local first responders to bargain over wages, benefits and working conditions but would prohibit strikes by unions and lockouts by employers. [Roll Call 633, H 980, 07/17/2007; Washington Post 07/22/2007] Ryan Opposed Legislation to Strengthen Organizing Rights. In 2007, Ryan voted against the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill to protect the rights of workers to organize a union. The bill changed existing law by allowing employees not employers to decide whether or not to hold a union election. The legislation would certify a union if a majority of workers signed cards authorizing it or allow them to hold an election by secret ballot. It also established steps to push employers and unions toward agreement on an initial contract and created penalties for intimidation of employees. The bill passed 241-185 [Roll Call 118, H 800, 03/01/2007; Office of the Committee on Education and Labor Democrats, 02/2007; Los Angeles Times, 3/2/07; Congressional Quarterly, 2/19/07; Congressional Quarterly, 3/5/07] Ryan Voted For Two Month Waiting Period For a Unionization Vote After a Petition Was Filed. On November 30, 2011, Ryan voted for a 2 month waiting period for a unionization vote after a petition was filed. According to Congressional Quarterly Today, The House voted Wednesday to build waiting periods into the union election process, hours after the National Labor Relations Board took a step toward approving a new rule that would have the opposite effect. The bill (HR 3094), passed by a 235-188 vote, would require an interval of almost two months between the time workers file petitions to hold a unionization election and when the vote occurs. [Roll Call 869, H 3094, 11/30/2011; Congressional Quarterly Today, 11/30/11] Ryan Voted To Block TSA Security Officers From Collective Bargaining. On June 02, 2011, Ryan voted for a Rokita, R-Ind., amendment that would block funds in the bill from implementing the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) plan to award collective bargaining rights to security officers at TSA. This amendment follows a February 4, 2011, decision that allowed TSA security officers to collectively bargain at a national level on issues including processes for performance management, awards and attendance, policies regarding shift trade and transfers, and uniforms. The underlying legislation would fund the Department of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2012 at $42 billion. [Roll Call 403, H 2017, 06/02/2011; Congressional Quarterly Today, 6/2/11]

Unemployment
Ryan Voted Against Extending Payroll Tax Cut, Unemployment Benefits. On February 17, 2012, Ryan voted against the conference report on the bill that would extend the 4.2 percent employee payroll tax rate

through 2012. It also would renew long-term unemployment benefits into January 2013, with three stages of reductions. The current Medicare reimbursement rate for physicians would be preserved through 2012, preventing a scheduled 27.4 percent payment cut. The cost of the legislation would be partially offset by requiring larger pension payments from newly hired federal employees and from lawmakers, by auctioning blocks of electromagnetic spectrum used by television broadcasters and by reducing funds for certain programs tied to the 2010 health care overhaul. According to Congressional Quarterly Today, In addition to the 10-month extension of the current Social Security payroll tax cut, the conference report (H Rept 112-399) for the measure calls for extending federal unemployment insurance benefits and includes a provision to prevent a cut in Medicare payments to physicians known as the doc fix through Dec. 31, 2012. The current, two-month extension of the payroll tax holiday, unemployment benefits and doc fix expire Feb. 29. Adoption in both chambers sends the measure to President Obama, who has promised to sign it. [] Through the agreement, lawmakers avoided a politically perilous lapse of the tax cut enjoyed by the nearly 160 million American workers and compromised on restructuring existing unemployment law. [Roll Call 72, H 3630, 02/17/2012; Congressional Quarterly Today, 2/17/12] Ryan, Who Expressed Concern For Wisconsin Auto Workers, Voted Against An Extension Of Unemployment Benefits Because It Increased The National Debt. According to The Janesville Gazette, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-1st District, issued a statement last week, challenging the claim by General Motors and the Obama administration that GM has paid off its bailout loan from the federal government. []If anyone is owed a clear and honest explanation, it is those hit hardest by the downturn in the auto industry, including those I serve in Janesville, Kenosha, Oak Creek and the surrounding communities in southern Wisconsin, Ryan said. []Ryans statement raised questions with some, however, who asked why he voted last month against a bill to extend unemployment compensation if he is so concerned for the laid-off workers in his district. []Ryan said his vote signaled his displeasure with a measure that increases the national debt. If this legislation was paid for, I would have gladly supported it, Ryan said. However, rather than prioritizing spending to offset the cost of this bill, the majority irresponsibly decided to borrow an additional $18.1 billion to pay for it. [The Janesville Gazette, 5/3/10] Ryan Voted Against Extending Unemployment Benefits. On November 18, 2010 Ryan voted against extending eligibility for expanded unemployment benefits through Feb. 28, 2011. It also would extend federal funding to states for the costs of additional unemployment benefits through March 1, 2011. According to the Associated Press, Republicans in the House on Thursday blocked a bill that would have extended jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed beyond the holiday season. An extension of jobless benefits enacted this summer expires Dec. 1, and unless they are renewed, two million people will lose benefits averaging $310 a week nationwide by the end of December. The failed measure would have extended jobless benefits through the end of February at a cost of adding $12.5 billion to the nations debt. Republicans opposing the legislation said the measure should be paid for by cutting unspent money from last years economic stimulus bill. [Roll Call 579, H 6419, 11/18/2010; Associated Press, 11/19/10] Ryan Voted Against Extending Unemployment Benefits. On July 22, 2010 Ryan voted to block a bill that would extend eligibility for extended federal unemployment insurance until Nov. 30, 2010, applied retroactively to June 2. According to the Washington Post, the bill would provide unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless through November, with the $34 billion cost added to the national debt. The bill funds payments to those who have exhausted their initial 26-week allotments of state-funded jobless benefits and delivers lump-sum retroactive payments to qualified individuals who lost eligibility after June 2. The bill keeps 99 weeks as the maximum eligibility period for receiving state-federal unemployment compensation. [Roll Call 463, H 4213, 07/22/2010; Washington Post 7/25/2010] Ryan Voted Against Extending Unemployment Benefits. On July 1, 2010 Ryan voted against the Restoration of Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act. Congressional Quarterly reported that the House backed legislation on Thursday that would revive expired unemployment benefits, but the measure will have to wait until after the Independence Day recess for Senate action. The House passed the bill (HR

5618), as amended, 270-153, but recent Senate efforts to move companion legislation have come up short. Specifically, the bill would extend through Nov. 30, 2010, and make retroactive to June 2, eligibility for unemployment insurance for laid-off workers and 100 percent federal funding for extended jobless benefits. States could not reduce their regular unemployment compensation programs below June 2 levels to be eligible for the funding. [Roll Call 423, H 5618, 07/01/2010] Ryan Voted Against Extending Unemployment Benefits. On April 15, 2010, Ryan voted against the motion to concur in the Senate amendment to the bill that would extend for two months federal unemployment benefits, flood insurance programs, increased payment rates to Medicare providers and COBRA health care premium assistance. According to the Washington Post, the bill providing about $12 billion to pay for an extension until June 2 of jobless checks for hundreds of thousands of people whose benefits expired April 4. Costing $18 billion overall, the bill also would provide short-term funding of COBRA health insurance for the jobless, transportation projects, national flood insurance, small-business loan programs and Medicare payments to doctors, among other measures. [Roll Call 211, H 4851, 04/15/2010; Washington Post 4/18/2010] Ryan Voted to Extend Unemployment Benefits. On November 05, 2009, Ryan voted to extend unemployment benefits. According to the Associate Press, Congress on Thursday decisively approved an extension of unemployment benefits for almost two million people out of work nearly a year or more as the U.S. continues to lose jobs. [...] The measure, cleared the House 403-12 Thursday, a day after it won unanimous support in the Senate. It extends benefits for 14 weeks for all those who have exhausted their federal aid or will do so by the end of the year. Those living in states where the unemployment rate is at 8.5 percent or above get an additional six weeks. [Roll Call 859, H 3548, 11/05/2009; Associated Press, 11/05/2009] Ryan Voted to Extend Unemployment Benefits for 13 More Weeks in Certain States. On September 22, 2009, Ryan voted to pass an extension of unemployment benefits. According to the Associated Press, Jobless workers in imminent danger of losing their unemployment benefits would get a 13-week reprieve under legislation approved by the House on Tuesday. [...] The bill, if enacted, would offer a reprieve to more than 300,000 jobless workers who are slated to run out of unemployment compensation at the end of September and the more than 1 million expected to exhaust their benefits by the end of the year. [Roll Call 722, H 3548, 09/22/2009; Associated Press, 09/22/2009] Ryan Voted to Extend Unemployment Benefits. On October 3, 2008, Ryan voted to extend unemployment benefits. The bill was voted on during the debate on the Wall Street bailout, and the Los Angeles Times, To demonstrate concern for Main Street, the House approved a separate measure to extend unemployment benefits. Specifically, the bill would provide an additional seven weeks of unemployment benefits for workers who have exhausted their current compensation by March 31, 2009. The bill also would extend benefits for an additional 13 weeks, or half the duration of regular unemployment compensation, for workers in states with unemployment rates of 6 percent or higher. [Roll Call 683, H 6867, 10/03/2008; Los Angeles Times, 10/04/08] Ryan Voted against Extension of Unemployment Benefits. In 2008, Ryan voted against an amendment that would provide extended unemployment benefits for people out of work longer than six months. The amendment appropriated $21.2 billion for domestic programs, military construction and foreign aid programs. It would provide $4.6 billion for military construction and $5.8 billion for levee building in Louisiana. The amendment would provide a permanent expansion of education benefits for post-Sept. 11 veterans, offset with a 0.47 percent surtax on modified adjusted gross income above $500,000 per year for individuals and $1 million for couples. It also would temporarily extend unemployment insurance benefits and place a moratorium through March 2009 on seven Medicaid regulations proposed by the administration. It would appropriate $9.9 billion for the State Department, USAID and international food assistance. The

amendment passed 256-166. [Roll Call 330, H 2642, 05/15/2008; Congressional Quarterly, Congressional Quarterly Weekly, 5/16/08] Ryan Voted For Extending Unemployment Benefits. On January 8, 2003, Ryan voted for a bill that would provide temporary extension of unemployment. According to Roll Call, the bill provided 13 additional weeks of U.S. unemployment checks for up to 800,000 people who have used up their 26 weeks of state benefits but had not exhausted all of their U.S. allotment when federal money ran dry on Dec. 28. [] For those who use up their state allotment between now and June 1, the bill authorizes 13 weeks of supplemental federal benefits, or 26 extra weeks in a few states with the highest unemployment. [Roll Call 7, S 23, 01/08/2003; Roll Call 1/12/2003] Ryan Supported $430 Million in Cuts to Job Training, Unemployment Assistance. In 2005, Ryan voted in favor of the Labor, HHS & Education appropriations conference report that cut $1.5 billion from key domestic priorities. The measure cut a program helping people find jobs by $89 million, cut youth and adult job training grants by $67 million and cut funds for offices that help unemployed workers obtain benefits by $141 million. The bill also cut an initiative the helps eradicate abusive child labor and protect worker rights and wages around the world by $20 million. The bill failed 209-224. [Roll Call 598, H 3010, 11/17/2005; House Appropriations Committee Democratic Staff, Summary of the Conference Agreement - HR 3010, 11/16/05]

Pensions
Ryan Supported Pension Protection Act of 2006. Ryan supported the Pension Protection Act of 2006, a pension reform bill backed by President Bush. The bill would would establish a new premium, $1,250 for each participant the companys pension plan, that employers who terminate their plans must pay to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). It would change the formula for determining whether a pension plan is fully funded, and require employers to meet a 100 percent funding target. Firms that administer 401(k) plans would be allowed to give investment advice to employees with respect to the firms own financial products, but it would have to be based on an independently certified computer model. The bill would provide special pension relief to airlines. [Roll Call 422, H 4, 07/28/2006] Ryan Supported Bill to Allow Cuts to Pension Contributions. In 2004, Ryan voted in favor of legislation that would allow companies like DuPont, Raytheon and Delta Air Lines to cut required pension contributions by nearly half. The pension bill was designed to save U.S. companies whose pension plans had suffered from stock market losses as much as $80 billion on retirement costs over two years. Supporters claimed the bill would solve the problem of companies over-contributing to employees pension plans. The bill passed 33669. [Roll Call 117, H 3108, 04/02/2004; Washington Post, 4/03/04; States News Service, 4/9/04]

Workers Comp and Safety

Ryan Voted Against OSHA Regulation of Combustible Dusts. In 2008, Ryan voted against legislation requiring the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to regulate combustible dusts. The Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Act required OSHA to issue rules regulating combustible industrial dusts, like sugar dust, that can build up to hazardous levels and explode. The Chemical Safety Board urged OSHA in 2006 to issue rules controlling dust hazards, but OSHA repeatedly failed to act. This legislation created an enforceable standard to replace OSHAs previous policy of voluntary compliance to ensure that employers are aware of all safety hazards and will act to protect their workers. The bill passed, 247-165. [Roll Call 233, H 5522, 04/30/2008; Hoyer Press Release, 4/30/08]

Ryan Opposed Ergonomics Standards for Workers. In 2001, Ryan voted in favor of a resolution expressing congressional disapproval of the ergonomics rule submitted by the Labor Department during the Clinton administration. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, which would have taken effect in October 2001, were aimed at preventing chronic conditions common among workers who perform the same motions over and over again on their jobs. More than 100 million Americans in jobs ranging from delivery-truck drivers to computer programmers would have been covered. More than 1.8 million Americans suffer each year from repetitive-stress injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome, according to OSHA. The agency estimated the cost of complying with ergonomics regulations at $4.5 billion a year. It said employers would save twice that much by eliminating costs for time off and workers compensation. The resolution passed, 223-206 [Roll Call 33, S 6, 03/07/2001; USA Today, 3/8/01] Ryan Voted Against Offsetting 21st Century Teacher Scholarship Funding With Cuts in OSHA Funding. Ryan voted against an amendment that would appropriate $25 million for the 21st Century Teacher Scholarship Act, provided it is enacted into law, which would be offset by reducing the Occupational Safety and Health Administrations appropriations by the same amount. [Roll Call 267, H 4577, 06/13/2000] Ryan Opposed Ergonomic Standards in 2000. In 2000, Ryan voted against an amendment to strike a provision from the FY 2001 Labor-HHS Appropriations bill prohibiting OSHA from using funds to establish a standard on ergonomic protection. The amendment was defeated 203-220 [Roll Call 250, H 4577, 06/08/2000] Paul Ryan Opposed Ergonomic Standards in 2000. In 2000, Paul Ryan voted against an amendment to strike a provision from the FY 2001 Labor-HHS Appropriations bill prohibiting OSHA from using funds to establish a standard on ergonomic protection. The amendment was defeated 203-220. [Roll Call 250, H 4577, 06/08/2000] Ryan Voted Against Whistle Blower Protections for Offshore Energy Development Industry Employees. On July 30, 2010 Ryan voted against the bill that would prohibit employers from discriminating against workers in the offshore energy development industry who report suspected safety violations to federal or state authorities. According to the Washington Post, the bill sought to have the panel replace the original language with substitute language providing whistleblower protection to offshore workers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. [Roll Call 506, H 5851, 07/30/2010; Washington Post 8/7/2010] Ryan Voted to Require Courts to Defer to OSHA Commission Rulings on Questions of Law. On July 12, 2005, Ryan voted for passage of the bill that would require courts and judges to defer to Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission rulings when interpreting questions of law. The commission hears appeals of Occupational Safety and Health Administration violations. [Roll Call 371, H 741, 07/12/2005] Ryan Voted Against a Provision Barring Funds for OSHA Respirator Testing. On June 23, 2005, Ryan voted against the Owens, D-N.Y., amendment that would strike a provision in the bill which would bar funds from enforcing an Occupational Health and Safety Administration requirement that hospitals conduct annual testing of respirators for tuberculosis exposure. The underlying legislation would fund the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education for 2006. [Roll Call 306, H 3010, 06/23/2005]

Workers Rights
Ryan Voted Against Establishing Policies for Employees to Telework. On November 18, 2010 Ryan voted to block the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010. According to Congressional Quarterly Today, The House on Thursday cleared a bill that would require executive agencies to set policies allowing federal

employees to telework. The chamber, by a vote of 254-152, adopted a motion to concur in the Senate amendment to the telework bill (HR 1722), clearing the legislation for the president. President Obama is expected to sign the measure into law. The underlying bill would require executive agencies to establish policies for employees to telework, create related training programs and designate telework managing officers. The bill would set guidelines for these policies, such as ensuring that teleworking would not diminish employee or agency performance. It also would require that telework be included in continuity plans for emergencies. On the House oor, supporters of the measure -- both Democrats and Republicans -- argued that the bill would save money. [Roll Call 578, H 1722, 11/18/2010; Congressional Quarterly Today, 11/18/10]