EFCA Hokey Pokey: Are they in or are they out?
Thursday, March 5th, 2009 by Geoffrey BurrTrying to figure out when EFCA’s congressional sponsors will actually introduce their bill in the 111th Congress can make you dizzy.
Last month, several organized labor blogs and other sources reported that EFCA would be introduced in concert with a rally being held on Capitol Hill on February 4.However, that event came and went without EFCA ever being introduced in the House or the Senate.
Earlier this week those same blogs began reporting yet again that EFCA would be introduced next week (on March 9 to be exact) presumably in anticipation of a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on 3/10 which in part would discuss EFCA.Now we are hearing that EFCA’s sponsors have once again gotten cold feet and the bill may not be introduced until later this month.
The bill was drafted years ago, so…what’s the hold up?
Rumor has it that the number of members of the House and Senate that have signed on as cosponsors of the bill has dropped off drastically.So drastically, in fact, that EFCA’s sponsors are embarrassed to introduce the bill.In the 110th Congress, 230 (out of a possible 233) House Democrats cosponsored EFCA.Rumor has it that this year, with 21 more Democrats in the House than last year, the bill is struggling to get even 200 House cosponsors. And, similar problems are being experienced in the Senate.
Apparently, absent the backstop of a Presidential veto, members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have now realized what so many others already knew– that EFCA is job killing legislation that will only serve to further damage our economy.
