[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 126 (Tuesday, August 1, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H8122-H8123]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE COURT REPORTER FAIR LABOR AMENDMENTS OF 1995
Mr. FAWELL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for the immediate
consideration of the bill (H.R. 1225) to amend the Fair Labor Standards
Act of 1938 to exempt employees who perform certain court reporting
duties from the compensatory time requirements applicable to certain
public agencies, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Illinois?
Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I will ask the
gentleman to explain his unanimous-consent request.
Mr. FAWELL. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. OWENS. Further reserving the right to object, I yield to the
gentleman from Illinois.
Mr. FAWELL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
H.R. 1225, as reported by the Committee on Economic and Educational
Opportunities on July 20, 1995, would allow an exemption under the Fair
Labor Standards Act for official court reporters while they are
performing transcription duties and being paid on a per-page basis.
I introduced H.R. 1225 on March 14, 1995. Without this bill, almost
every State and local government and court will have to alter their
payment structures for official court reporters.
My colleagues on both sides of the aisle deserve acknowledgment for
their efforts in moving this bipartisan legislation and, in particular,
the gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. Ballenger], whose subcommittee
held hearings on this bill, also to the chairman, the gentleman from
Pennsylvania [Mr. Goodling], and the ranking minority member, the
gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Clay], for their leadership in shepherding
this bill through the committee. I especially want to pay my respects
to the gentleman from New York [Mr. Owens], who helped craft the final
language of the substitute, and his help and guidance was certainly
instrumental in this bill.
I understand that the other body will take up this bill in the near
future. I look forward to their expeditious consideration of this
matter.
Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I rise
in support of the unanimous consent request.
As the gentleman stated, H.R. 1225 concerns the compensation for
overtime for State and local court reporters. Although a blanket
exemption from the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime requirements would
be inappropriate, where court reporters are otherwise receiving
compensation for a transcript on a per-page basis and are preparing the
transcript on their own time, that time should not be required to count
for purposes of computing the reporters' overtime.
I support this legislation because it achieves that end, and I
commend my colleagues, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Goodling],
the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Fawell], the
[[Page H8123]]
gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. Ballenger], for working to resolve
this issue in a bipartisan manner.
Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
The Clerk read the bill, as follows:
H.R. 1225
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``The Court Reporter Fair
Labor Amendments of 1995''.
SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON COMPENSATORY TIME FOR COURT REPORTERS.
Section 7(o) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29
U.S.C. 207(o)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following new
paragraph:
``(6) A public agency may not be considered to be in
violation of subsection (a) with respect to an employee who
performs court reporting transcript preparation duties if
such public agency and such employee have an understanding
that the time spent performing such duties outside of normal
working hours or regular working days is not considered as
hours worked for the purposes of subsection (a).''.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE OF AMENDMENTS.
The amendments made by section 2 shall take effect as if
included in the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938 to which such amendments relate, except that such
amendments shall not apply to an action--
(1) that was brought in a court involving the application
of section 7(a) of such Act to an employee who performed
court reporting transcript preparation duties; and
(2) in which a final judgment has been entered on or before
the date of enactment of this Act.
committee amendment in the nature of a substitute
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the committee
amendment in the nature of a substitute.
The Clerk read as follows:
Committee amendment in the nature of a substitute:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Court Reporter Fair Labor
Amendments of 1995''.
SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON OVERTIME COMPENSATION FOR COURT
REPORTERS.
Section 7(o) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29
U.S.C. 207(o)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following new
paragraph:
``(6) The hours an employee of a public agency performs
court reporting transcript preparation duties shall not be
considered as hours worked for the purposes of subsection (a)
if--
``(A) such employee is paid at a per-page rate which is not
less than--
``(i) the maximum rate established by State law or local
ordinance for the jurisdiction of such public agency,
``(ii) the maximum rate otherwise established by a judicial
or administrative officer and in effect on July 1, 1995, or
``(iii) the rate freely negotiated between the employee and
the party requesting the transcript, other than the judge who
presided over the proceedings being transcribed, and
``(B) the hours spent performing such duties are outside of
the hours such employee performs other work (including hours
for which the agency requires the employee's attendance)
pursuant to the employment relationship with such public
agency.
For purposes of this section, the amount paid such employee
in accordance with subparagraph (A) for the performance of
court reporting transcript preparation duties, shall not be
considered in the calculation of the regular rate at which
such employee is employed.''.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by section 2 shall apply after the date
of the enactment of this Act and with respect to actions
brought in a court after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
Mr. FAWELL (during the reading). Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent
that the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute be
considered as read and printed in the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the committee amendment
in the nature of a substitute.
The committee amendment in the nature of a substitute was agreed to.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, was read
the third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the
table.
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