EFCA Round-Up: Franken Impact, July 1, 2009
NAM's ShopFloor.org has favorably cited our assessment of the impact of the Franken decision on EFCA's prospects:
Expect a renewed wave of enthusiasm by the bill’s supporters in the days to come. Still, once Franken is seated as the second Senator from Minnesota, EFCA in its current form faces an uphill battle. Many of the 60 votes possibly controlled by the Democrats have openly questioned the bill’s current provisions – Sens. Lincoln, Feinstein, and Bennet to name but a few. Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA), whose recent famous party switch put the Democrats this close to the prospect of cloture on any given measure, has consistently criticized EFCA as currently drafted.
(NAM also had an important tidbit yesterday on President Obama's intention to nominate George Coehn to head up FMCS.)
LaborUnionReport remains concerned that the current version may yet be sent to the floor soon:
While there is still the potential for compromise legislation to be crafted, Tom Harkin has threatened, barring any compromise, to send the legislation to the Senate floor for an "up or down vote" after July 4th (which is less than a week away).
Kevin Bogardus reports in The Hill that Democrats and Labor seem cautiously optimistic yet politically realistic about the bill:
“Franken’s victory certainly helps our chances of passing EFCA, but there is still plenty of work to be done,” said Thea Lee, policy director for the AFL-CIO.
“Working families need him in the United States Senate to help restore the economy, rebuild the middle class and renew the American Dream for all workers,” said Anna Burger, chairwoman of Change to Win and secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union.The bill should pass overwhelmingly in the House. But unlike in the last Congress, the Senate is working on the bill first to see if a compromise can be worked out to gain cloture.
Sen. Tom Harkin has been the lead negotiator on a compromise. The Iowa Democrat says Franken needs to be seated to have enough votes for Senate passage.
“There are multiple factors at play. Seating Sen. Franken is definitely one of them, but this bill is a heavy lift. Sen. Harkin is committed to moving this bill forward in a timely fashion,” said Bergen Kenny, Harkin’s press secretary.
Still, there is no question where Mr. Franken stands on the legislation:
