[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 29, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1264-E1265]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THE INTRODUCTION OF THE RESTORE OPPORTUNITY, STRENGTHEN, AND IMPROVE 
                            THE ECONOMY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 29, 2014

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce the Restore Opportunity, 
Strengthen, and Improve the Economy (ROSIE) Act. Millions of workers 
are part of the ``federally dependent workforce'' and hold low-wage 
jobs with federal contractors. Seventy percent of these workers are 
women and 45 percent are people of color. With so many workers 
dependent on federal contracts, the federal government has the ability 
to use its purchasing power to incentivize private-sector firms to 
create good jobs for American workers, rebuild the middle class, 
address income inequality, and invigorate the economy by increasing the 
purchasing power of working Americans.
  Under the bill, Congress finds that the disappearance of good jobs, 
the shrinking of the middle class, and growing income inequality are 
the greatest domestic challenges confronting our nation. The federal 
government is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the 
nation's private-sector economy, spending over $1.5 trillion annually 
at firms that employ a quarter of American workers. Federal purchasing 
power is currently creating millions of poverty-level jobs, subsidizing 
labor-law-breakers, and funding ballooning executive compensation.
  The bill also notes that the federal government is our nation's 
leading creator of low-wage jobs in the private sector, funding more 
than two-million jobs paying under 12 dollars per hour. The federal 
government awards taxpayer dollars to a substantial number of firms 
that violate federal labor, employment and occupational safety laws, 
and its purchasing subsidizes the excessive salaries of private-sector 
executives who do business with the American people. When federal 
purchasing power is used in such a manner, workers have less to spend 
on the necessities of life and are forced to rely on public assistance. 
Lack of purchasing power hurts job creation and undermines economic 
growth, ultimately imposing significant costs on American taxpayers.
  Federal purchasing power can and should be used to create good jobs, 
rebuild the middle class, and curb rising income inequality. These good 
jobs would allow workers and their families to live in dignity without 
relying

[[Page E1265]]

on public assistance or private charity, and would pay enough to 
provide for subsistence, healthcare, education, housing and savings, as 
well as enough disposable income to allow workers to enjoy quality time 
off with their loved ones. Federal purchasing power can and should be 
used to rebuild the middle class. A strong middle class stimulates the 
economy by increasing consumer spending and job growth. Federal 
purchasing power can and should be used to narrow the growing gulf 
between the richest one percent of the population and ordinary working 
families, which is threatening the survival of our participatory 
democracy.
  The bill directs the Secretary of Labor to promulgate regulations 
implementing Good Jobs Model Employer Standards. Under these standards, 
whenever an executive agency awards a contract for the acquisition of 
supplies or services, it shall not award the contract to a source that 
is not a Good Jobs Model Employer, unless there is no offer from a 
source that is a model employer. An executive agency could not provide 
other forms of financial or nonfinancial assistance to entities that 
are not model employers when there is a similarly situated Good Jobs 
Model Employer that could receive the assistance, unless doing so would 
substantially undermine the value of the assistance to the public. 
These provisions do not apply to direct federal statutory requirements, 
mandatory awards, direct awards to foreign governments or public 
international organizations, benefits to an individual as a personal 
entitlement, or federal employment.
  The bill defines a Good Jobs Model Employer as an employer that meets 
the following standards: (1) respects employees' rights to bargain 
collectively with their employers without being forced to take strike 
action to win better wages and working conditions; (2) offers to each 
employee living wages, decent benefits including, health care, paid 
leave for sickness and caregiving, and fair work schedules that are 
predictable and stable; (3) affirmatively demonstrates an exemplary 
standard of compliance with workplace protection laws, including laws 
governing labor relations, wages and hours and health and safety, as 
well as other applicable labor laws; (4) limits executive compensation 
to fifty times the median salary paid to the company's workers; (5) 
employs a workforce not less than 35 percent of which reside within one 
or more Historically Underutilized Business Zones; and (6) subcontracts 
only with other Good Jobs Model Employers.
  This bill is just one step in lifting millions of Americans out of 
poverty and into the middle class. These contracting requirements will 
incentivize, rather than penalize, employers to raise their workplace 
standards to retain much sought-after federal contracts. They will also 
provide savings to the federal government by lowering the cost of the 
federal safety net because fewer workers will be reliant on federal 
benefits. With these standards, Demos has estimated an annual benefit 
savings of approximately $3.3 billion for the Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program, $3.1 billion for Medicaid, and $2.5 billion for the 
Earned Income Tax Credit. Ultimately, the ROSIE Act will uplift our 
workers and benefit our entire country.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

                          ____________________