Maria's Monday Memo

Maria's Monday Memo

Senator Maria Cantwell's Weekly Memo

Fighting For Workers by Protecting Overtime Pay and Unemployment Insurance

I would like to update you on two important issues that affect workers in Washington and across the country. Earlier this year, the White House proposed new labor regulations that will effectively eliminate overtime pay for eight million workers. In September, I cosponsored an amendment to the appropriations bill that funds the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education to block implementation of the proposed regulations. The amendment passed, and the House also voted to bar these rules. The next step should have been for the House and Senate to reconcile differences between the two versions of the bill. However, the Administration has threatened to veto the bill if it includes the overtime provision. The House-Senate bill is stalled and it is likely that it will be rolled into an omnibus bill, without the provision protecting overtime pay. This would mean that the Department of Labor could change the rules for overtime pay as soon as January 2004.

Millions of workers depend on overtime to make ends meet; in 2000, overtime pay accounted for about 25 percent of the income of those workers who worked overtime. If the Bush Administration's new rules are finalized, people in 257 occupations will lose their right to earn overtime, including private-sector emergency medical technicians, paralegals, pilots, cooks, dental hygienists, health technicians, electrical technicians, air traffic controllers, and many other professions. These regulations are not worker- or family-friendly, and I support Sen. Tom Harkin's bill to prevent their implementation.

I'm also working to see that we support those workers who have lost their jobs. In the last two years, the number of long-term unemployed Americans has tripled. Although there has been a lot of talk lately about a "jobless recovery," minor up-ticks in a few economic statistics won't put food on families' tables or heat their homes this winter if their breadwinners are still laid off. That's why I'm continuing to work to extend the vital unemployment insurance program.

Flood Relief Information

Many Washingtonians lost their homes or suffered property damage during the severe storms and flooding that hit our state in October. On Friday, the Internal Revenue Service announced special tax relief for residents who live in the counties included in the natural disaster declaration. They are Chelan, Clallam, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Mason, Okanogan, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston, and Whatcom Counties.

Residents of these counties have the option of claiming disaster-related casualty losses on their federal income tax return for either this year or last year. Claiming the loss on an original or amended return for last year will get the taxpayer an earlier refund, but waiting to claim the loss on this year's return could result in a greater tax saving, depending on other income factors. Individuals may deduct part of the personal property losses that are not covered by insurance or other reimbursements. For more information, please visit the IRS Web site at