Most of the legislative agenda for today in the House has focused on the Labor-HHS appropriations bill. While approval of the $492.3 billion measure is significant, the most contentious measure promises to be recently enacted overtime regulations.

Democrats charge that the Bush administration and Republicans are using these new rules to restrict working Americans ability to earn overtime pay. Congressman David Obey (D-Wisconsin) will likely offer an amendment blocking the Labor Department from actively enforcing the new rules, which he contends shut out more than 6 million workers from receiving the benefit of traditional time-and-a-half overtime pay. Such language has been pushed by Democrats before, most recently in the FY04 omnibus appropriations bill. However, the language was stripped when President Bush threatened to veto any measure containing such language.

The administration maintains that current overtime rules are confusing and that the new regulations will make more than one million low-income workers eligible for overtime pay.