The administration’s overtime proposal, which was issued in March, would dramatically increase the number of workers who qualify as administrative, professional, or executive, stripping at least eight million of their right to overtime pay in the process, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), chairman of the Labor, Health, Human Services and Education Subcommittee, had vowed to block the proposal but apparently backed down after GOP leaders threatened to cut $4.7 billion from social, health care and education programs, according to the Washington Post.
Under the media ownership rules, which the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued in June, a single company could own TV stations reaching up to 45 percent of the national TV audience, up from 35 percent. Last week, congressional negotiators lifted their block after striking a compromise with the White House for a 39 percent cap instead, which conveniently allows Fox and CBS to keep their exisiting stations.
Both of these riders were contained in the FY 2004 omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 2673), which Congress is expected to vote on in early December.