[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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