[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 198 (Tuesday, October 13, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 64726-64906]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21685]



[[Page 64725]]

Vol. 85

Tuesday,

No. 198

October 13, 2020

Part IV





 Department of Labor





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 Office of Labor-Management Standards





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29 CFR Parts 402, 403 and 408





Labor Organization Annual Financial Reports: LM Form Revisions; 
Proposed Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 85 , No. 198 / Tuesday, October 13, 2020 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 64726]]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of Labor-Management Standards

29 CFR Parts 402, 403, and 408

RIN 1245-AA10


Labor Organization Annual Financial Reports: LM Form Revisions

AGENCY: Office of Labor-Management Standards, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Proposed rule and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department) proposes to promulgate a 
rule that updates and revises our regulations in order to improve the 
Form LM-2 and establish a Form LM-2 Long Form (LF), in the interest of 
labor organization financial integrity and transparency. The proposed 
rule would apply prospectively.

DATES: Submit written comments on or before December 14, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 1245-AA10, only 
electronically, through the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov. To locate the proposed rule, use key words such as 
``Labor-Management Standards'' or ``Labor Organization Annual Financial 
Reports.''. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Please be 
advised that comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. All 
comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. on the date indicated for 
consideration in this rulemaking.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Davis, Chief of the Division of 
Interpretations and Standards, Office of Labor-Management Standards, 
U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N-5609, 
Washington, DC 20210, (202) 693-0123 (this is not a toll-free number), 
(800) 877-8339 (TTY/TDD).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Statutory Authority

    The Department's statutory authority is set forth in sections 201 
and 208 of the Labor- Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, 
as amended (LMRDA or Act), 29 U.S.C. 431, 438. Section 208 of the LMRDA 
provides that the Secretary of Labor shall have authority to issue, 
amend, and rescind rules and regulations prescribing the form and 
publication of reports required to be filed under Title II of the Act 
and such other reasonable rules and regulations as he may find 
necessary to prevent the circumvention or evasion of the reporting 
requirements. 29 U.S.C. 438. Section 201, discussed in more detail 
below, sets out the substantive reporting obligations.
    The Secretary has delegated his authority under the LMRDA to the 
Director of the Office of Labor-Management Standards and permitted 
redelegation of such authority. See Secretary's Order 03-2012 (Oct. 19, 
2012), published at 77 FR 69376 (Nov. 16, 2012).

II. Background

A. Introduction

    The Department proposes to introduce a new Form LM-2 Long Form 
(Form LM-2 LF), and update and revise Form LM-2 labor organization 
annual financial disclosure report to provide additional valuable 
information to union members, the Department, and the public. This 
proposal is part of the Department's continuing effort to better 
effectuate the reporting requirements of the LMRDA. The LMRDA's various 
reporting provisions are designed to empower labor organization members 
by providing them the means to maintain democratic control over their 
labor organizations and ensure a proper accounting of labor 
organization funds. Labor organization members are better able to 
monitor their labor organization's financial affairs and to make 
informed choices about the leadership of their labor organization and 
its direction when labor organizations provide financial information 
required by the LMRDA in an easily accessible way. By reviewing the 
reports, a member may ascertain the labor organization's priorities and 
whether they are in accord with the union's constitution and purposes, 
the member's own priorities, and those of fellow members. At the same 
time, this transparency promotes the labor organization's own interests 
as a democratic institution as well as the interests of the public and 
the government. Furthermore, the LMRDA's reporting and disclosure 
provisions, together with the fiduciary duty provision, 29 U.S.C. 501, 
which directly regulates the primary conduct of labor organization 
officials, operate to safeguard a labor organization's funds from 
depletion by improper or illegal means. Timely and complete reporting 
also helps deter labor organization officers or employees from 
embezzling or otherwise making improper use of such funds.

B. Statutory Background

    In 1959, Congress found that ``in the labor and management fields * 
* * there have been a number of instances of breach of trust, 
corruption, disregard of the rights of individual employees, and other 
failures to observe high standards of responsibility and ethical 
conduct which require further and supplementary legislation that will 
afford necessary protection of the rights and interests of employees 
and the public generally as they relate to the activities of labor 
organizations, employers, labor relations consultants, and their 
officers and representatives.'' 29 U.S.C. 401(b). The LMRDA was 
designed to remedy these various ills through a set of integrated 
provisions aimed largely at labor organization governance and 
management. These include a ``bill of rights'' for labor organization 
members, which provides for equal voting rights, freedom of speech and 
assembly, and other basic safeguards for labor organization democracy, 
see 29 U.S.C. 411-415; financial reporting and disclosure requirements 
for labor organizations, their officers and employees, employers, labor 
relations consultants, and surety companies, see 29 U.S.C. 431-436, 
441; detailed procedural, substantive, and reporting requirements 
relating to labor organization trusteeships, see 29 U.S.C. 461-466; 
detailed procedural requirements for the conduct of elections of labor 
organization officers, see 29 U.S.C. 481-483; safeguards for labor 
organizations, including bonding requirements, the establishment of 
fiduciary responsibilities for labor organization officials and other 
representatives, criminal penalties for embezzlement from a labor 
organization, a prohibition on certain loans by a labor organization to 
officers or employees, prohibitions on individuals convicted of certain 
crimes from holding union office or employment or serving in other 
prohibited capacities, and prohibitions on payments for prohibited 
purposes by an employer or labor relations consultant to employees, 
labor organizations, and labor organization officers and employees, see 
29 U.S.C. 501-505; and prohibitions against extortionate picketing, 
retaliation for exercising protected rights, and deprivation of LMRDA 
rights by violence, see 29 U.S.C. 522, 529, 530. The LMRDA was a 
bipartisan bill. It originally passed the Senate 90-1 on April 25, 
1959. The conference report, which set forth the version of the bill 
negotiated between the House and Senate, passed the Senate 95-2 on

[[Page 64727]]

September 3, 1959. The bill passed the House 352-52 on September 4, 
1959.
    The LMRDA was the direct outgrowth of a congressional investigation 
conducted by the Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor 
or Management Field, commonly known as the McClellan Committee, chaired 
by Senator John McClellan of Arkansas. Senators John F. Kennedy, Sam 
Ervin, Karl Mundt, Patrick McNamara, Carl Curtis, Irving Ives, and 
Barry Goldwater also sat on the committee. Future U.S. Attorney General 
Robert Kennedy served as Chief Counsel and led Senator McClellan's 
staff. In 1957, the committee began a highly publicized investigation 
of labor organization racketeering and corruption. Its findings of 
financial abuse, mismanagement of labor organization funds, and 
unethical conduct provided much of the impetus for the bipartisan 
enactment of the LMRDA's remedial provisions. The committee heard from 
1,526 witnesses over 270 days of hearings, creating a record of over 
twenty thousand pages. See generally Benjamin Aaron, The Labor-
Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, 73 Harv. L. Rev. 851, 
851-55 (1960); and R. Alton Lee, Eisenhower & Landrum-Griffin (1990). 
During the investigation, the committee uncovered a host of improper 
financial arrangements between officials of several international and 
local labor organizations and employers (and labor consultants aligned 
with the employers) whose employees were represented by the labor 
organizations in question or might have been organized by them. Similar 
arrangements were also found between labor organization officials and 
the companies that handled matters relating to the administration of 
labor organization benefit funds. See generally Interim Report of the 
Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management 
Field, S. Report No. 85-1417 (1957); see also William J. Isaacson, 
Employee Welfare and Benefit Plans: Regulation and Protection of 
Employee Rights, 59 Colum. L. Rev. 96 (1959).
    Financial reporting and disclosure were conceived as a means of 
combatting improper practices. As noted in a key Senate Report on the 
legislation, disclosure would discourage questionable practices (``The 
searchlight of publicity is a strong deterrent.''); aid labor 
organization governance (labor organizations will be able ``to better 
regulate their own affairs. The members may vote out of office any 
individual whose personal financial interests conflict with his duties 
to members.''); facilitate legal action by members against ``officers 
who violate their duty of loyalty to the members;'' and create a record 
(the reports will furnish a ``sound factual basis for further action in 
the event that other legislation is required''). S. Rep. No. 187, at 16 
(1959), reprinted in 1 NLRB Legislative History of the Labor-Management 
Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, at 412.
    As the House Report disclosed, ``It is the purpose of this bill to 
insure that full information concerning the financial and internal 
administrative practices and procedures of labor organizations shall 
be, in the first instance available to the members of such 
organizations. In addition, this information is to be made available to 
the Government, and through the Secretary of Labor, is to be open to 
inspection by the general public. By such disclosure, and by relying on 
voluntary action by members of labor organizations, it is hoped that a 
deterrent to abuses will be established.'' House Report No. 741 (86th 
Cong., 1st Sess., 2 U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News, 1959, p. 2424).

C. Regulatory Background

    The Department has developed forms for implementing the LMRDA's 
financial reporting requirements. The annual reports required by 
section 202(b) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. 432(b) (Form LM-2, Form LM-3, and 
Form LM-4), contain information about a labor organization's assets, 
liabilities, receipts, disbursements, loans to officers and employees 
and business enterprises, payments to each officer, and payments to 
each employee of the labor organization paid more than $10,000 during 
the fiscal year. The reporting detail required of labor organizations, 
as the Secretary has established by rule, varies depending on the 
amount of the labor organization's annual receipts. 29 CFR 403.4.
    Labor organizations with annual receipts of at least $250,000 and 
all labor organizations in trusteeship (without regard to the amount of 
their annual receipts) must file the Form LM-2. 29 CFR 403.2-403.4. The 
Form LM-2 requires certain receipts and disbursements to be reported by 
functional categories, such as representational activities; political 
activities and lobbying; contributions, gifts, and grants; union 
administration; and benefits. Further, the form requires labor 
organizations to allocate the time their officers and employees spend 
according to functional categories, as well as the payments that each 
of these officers and employees receive, and it requires the 
itemization of certain transactions totaling $5,000 or more. This form 
must be electronically signed and filed with the Department. Form LM-2 
is filed by approximately 22 percent of the reporting labor 
organizations. If a labor organization has less than $250,000 in total 
annual receipts, it will file either a Form LM-3 or Form LM-4, both of 
which require significantly less detail than the Form LM-2. Form LM-3 
is filed by approximately 45 percent of the reporting labor 
organizations, i.e., those with less than $250,000 in total annual 
receipts but $10,000 or more. Labor organizations with receipts of less 
than $10,000 file the Form LM-4. They constitute 29 percent of the 
filers. The remaining 5 percent are subject to an even more simplified 
report, which is available to labor organizations with no assets, 
liabilities, receipts, or disbursements. The reforms the Department now 
proposes to make would affect only Form LM- 2 filers and thus only 22 
percent of the reporting labor organization community.
    The labor organization's president and treasurer (or its 
corresponding officers) are personally responsible for filing the 
reports and for any statement in the reports known by them to be false. 
29 CFR 403.6. These officers are also responsible for maintaining 
records in sufficient detail to verify, explain, or clarify the 
accuracy and completeness of the reports for not less than five years 
after the filing of the forms. 29 CFR 403.7. A labor organization 
``shall make available to all its members the information required to 
be contained in such reports'' and ``shall * * * permit such member[s] 
for just cause to examine any books, records, and accounts necessary to 
verify such report[s].'' 29 CFR 403.8(a).
    The reports are public information. 29 U.S.C. 435(a). The Secretary 
is charged with providing for the inspection and examination of the 
financial reports, 29 U.S.C. 435(b). For this purpose, OLMS maintains 
(1) a public disclosure room where copies of such reports may be 
reviewed and (2) an online public disclosure site (https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/rrlo/lmrda.htm), where reports filed since the 
year 2000 are available for the public's review.
    On December 27, 2002, the Department issued a notice of proposed 
rulemaking, 67 FR 79820, proposing revisions of the Form LM-2 (and 
other proposals for reforms of reports), expanding LMRDA coverage, and 
a newly created form.
    On October 9, 2003, the Department issued a final rule, 68 FR 
58373, with an effective date of January 4, 2004. The rule put into 
effect the NPRM-proposed changes to the Form LM-2 with

[[Page 64728]]

modifications. The key changes put into place by the final rule were as 
follows:
    1. $5,000 Itemization Threshold: Form LM-2 filers itemize certain 
categories of receipts and disbursements of $5,000 or more, as well as 
receipts and disbursements to a single entity that total $5,000 or more 
in the reporting year.
    2. Confidentiality Exemption: Labor organizations (hereinafter also 
referred to as ``labor unions'' or ``unions'') may take advantage of 
special procedures for reporting confidential information, such as 
information that would expose the reporting union's prospective 
organizing strategy and information that would provide a tactical 
advantage to parties with whom the union engages in contract 
negotiations. Such information is not specifically reported or publicly 
disclosed.
    3. Functional Reporting: Disbursements are reported in five 
specified categories (Representational Activities; Political Activities 
and Lobbying; Contributions, Gifts and Grants; General Overhead; and 
Union Administration).
    4. Functional Reporting of Work Time: The Form LM-2 requires unions 
to estimate the time spent by each union officer and union employee 
(collectively, ``union officials'') on different duties, based on the 
categories of activities represented by the Form LM-2 schedules and 
represented as percentage of work time totaling 100 percent. Unions 
then report the portion of gross salaries for each schedule based on 
the percentage of time estimates.
    5. Accounts Payable/Receivable: The Form LM-2 includes schedules 
designed for reporting delinquent accounts payable and receivable (with 
the typical Form LM-2 itemization threshold of $5,000).
    6. Reporting of Investments: The Form LM-2 requires unions to 
report all investments that both have a book value greater than $5,000 
and represent five percent or more of the union's investments.
    7. Membership Categories: The Form LM-2 requires unions to report 
their number of members by aggregate categories. The union may 
determine the categories. Common categories include active members, 
retirees, full retirees, apprentices, etc.
    Approximately four and a half years later, on May 12, 2008, the 
Department issued a notice of proposed rulemaking, 73 FR 27345, to 
further revise the Form LM-2 in a number of ways. A major piece 
required an expanded number of schedules to itemize receipts further.
    On January 21, 2009, the Department issued a final rule, 74 FR 
3677, with an effective date of February 20, 2009. The rule was 
ultimately rescinded before any reports were filed. The following were 
the key changes in the 2009 rule:
    1. Additional information on Schedules 3 and 4: Had it become 
applicable, the rule would have required additional information on Form 
LM-2 Schedule 3--Sales of Investments and Fixed Assets, and Schedule 
4--Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets, disclosing the party 
buying or selling union assets.
    2. Additional information on Schedules 11 and 12: The rule would 
have required additional information on Form LM-2 Schedule 11--All 
Officers and Disbursements to Officers, and Schedule 12--Disbursements 
to Employees, disclosing the total value of the benefits received by 
union officers and union employees (i.e., it would have required unions 
to include the value of union officer/employee benefits in Schedules 
11/12 rather than aggregated in a lump sum figure in Schedule 20).
    3. Itemization of Receipts: The rule added itemization schedules 
corresponding to additional categories of receipts.
    On April 21, 2009, the Department issued a notice of proposed 
rulemaking, 74 FR 18172, to rescind the Form LM-2 changes made by the 
January 2009 final rule.
    The NPRM expressed concern that the January 2009 final rule failed 
to consider the utility of increased reporting and its attendant 
burdens, which may have resulted in a reporting regime that lacked what 
the NPRM stated was a required balance between the need for 
transparency in union financial reporting and the need to protect 
unions from excessive burdens attendant to such reporting. 74 FR 18173, 
18175. The Department also stated that the January 2009 rule was not 
informed by an adequate review of the Department's experience under the 
``relatively recent'' revisions to Form LM-2 in 2003. Id.
    On October 13, 2009, the Department issued a final rule, 74 FR 
52401, which rescinded the Form LM-2 changes made by the January 2009 
final rule. As to the perceived failure to adequately balance burden 
with benefit, the Department concluded that the annual reports need not 
disclose ``every bit of probative financial information,'' id. at 52406 
(internal quotation marks omitted).
    Second, the Department rescinded the January 2009 rule on the view 
that it had promulgated the rule ``too soon after the 2003 changes'' 
and ``without an adequate review of the benefits and costs of the 
changes.'' Id. The Department stated that ``a more comprehensive 
review'' was needed to measure the benefits of the 2003 revisions 
against their costs; the Department suggested as two potential options 
``a survey of all Department investigators or a documented review of 
the thousands of filings received by the Department under the 2003 
rule.'' Id. at 52408.

III. Proposal

A. Introduction

    The Department now proposes to introduce a new Form LM-2 Long Form 
(LF) and modify the Form LM-2 for the purpose of providing additional 
information to labor organization members, the Department, and the 
public about the financial activities of labor organizations.
    Today's labor organizations are more like modern corporations in 
their structure, scope, and complexity than the labor organizations of 
1959. The balance between wages/salaries paid to workers and their 
``other compensation'' has changed significantly during this time. For 
example, in 1966, more than 80 percent of total compensation consisted 
of wages and salaries, with less than 20 percent representing benefits. 
U.S. Department of Labor, Report on the American Workforce 76, 87 
(2001).\1\ By 2019, wages had dropped to 70.1 percent of total 
compensation and benefits had grown to 29.9 percent of the compensation 
package. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Chart on 
Total Benefits, available at https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?cu. Moreover, labor organization members today are better 
educated, more empowered, and more familiar with financial data and 
transactions than ever before. Labor organization members, no less than 
consumers, citizens, or creditors, expect access to relevant and useful 
information in order to make fundamental investment, career, and 
retirement decisions, evaluate options, and exercise legally guaranteed 
rights.
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    \1\ In 2003, more than 71 percent of total compensation 
consisted of wages and salaries, with less than 29 percent 
representing benefits. See News Release on Employer Costs for 
Employee Compensation December 2003, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 
available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ecec_02262004.pdf.
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    The revisions to the Form LM-2 made by the Department in 2003 have 
helped to fulfill the LMRDA's reporting mandate. However, based upon 
the Department's experience since 2003 and after input from OLMS field 
offices, the Department believes that further enhancements to the Form 
LM-2 are necessary.

[[Page 64729]]

    Union and management corruption remains a problem today. For 
example, a recent investigation of auto industry corruption involving 
the United Auto Workers International Union (UAW) in Detroit, Michigan 
and a Detroit automaker produced multiple criminal convictions in the 
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.\2\ 
The joint investigations conducted by OLMS, the Department's Office of 
Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the 
Internal Revenue Service centered on a conspiracy involving Fiat 
Chrysler executives bribing labor officials to influence labor 
negotiations. Violations included conspiracy to violate the Labor 
Management Relations Act for paying and delivering more than $1.5 
million in prohibited payments and things of value to UAW officials, 
receiving prohibited payments and things of value from others acting in 
the interest of Fiat Chrysler, failing to report income on individual 
tax returns, conspiring to defraud the United States by preparing and 
filing false tax returns for the UAW-Chrysler National Training Center 
that concealed millions of dollars in prohibited payments directed to 
UAW officials, and deliberately providing misleading and incomplete 
testimony in the federal grand jury.
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    \2\ U.S. v. Durden, Case No.17-cr-20406, 2018 WL 6198288 (E.D. 
Mich. Nov. 13, 2018), judgment amended 2020 WL 2151149 (E.D. Mich. 
Mar. 25, 2020); U.S. v. Iacobelli, Case No. 17-cr-20406, 2018 WL 
4567268 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 13, 2018); U.S. v. Morgan, Case No. 17-cr-
20406, 2018 WL 4567269 (E.D. Mich. July 19, 2018); U.S. v. King, 
Case No.17-cr-20406, 2018 WL 10667957 (E.D. Mich. Nov. 21, 2018), 
judgment amended 2019 WL 255638 (E.D. Mich. Jan. 2, 2019); U.S. v. 
Mickens, Case No. 17-cr-20406, 2018 WL 6198290 (E.D. Mich. Nov. 13, 
2018); U.S. v. Johnson, Case No. 17-cr-20406, 2018 WL 7075322 (E.D. 
Mich. Dec. 28, 2018); U.S. v. Brown, Case No. 17-cr-20406, 2018 WL 
6198289 (E.D. Mich. Nov. 13, 2018), judgment amended 2020 WL 1079963 
(E.D. Mich. Jan. 8, 2020); U.S. v. Jewell, Case No.19-cr-20146, 2019 
WL 4722945 (E.D. Mich. Aug. 7, 2019); U.S. v. Grimes, Case No. 19-
cr-20520, 2020 WL 1942424 (E.D. Mich. Feb. 24, 2020); U.S. v. 
Pietrzyk, Case No. 19-cr-20630, 2019 WL 7667054 (E.D. Mich. Oct. 22, 
2019); U.S. v. Ashton, Case No. 19-cr-20738, 2019 WL 7625626 (E.D. 
Mich. Nov. 6, 2019); U.S. v. Robinson, Case No. 19-cr-20726, 2020 WL 
2612988 (E.D. Mich. Mar. 2, 2020); U.S. v. Pearson, Case No. 19-cr-
20726, 2020 WL 2612990 (E.D. Mich. Feb. 7, 2020); U.S. v. Jones, 
Case No. 19-cr-20726, 2020 WL 1910242 (E.D. Mich. Feb. 27, 2020).
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    OLMS cases illustrate the link between reporting and disclosure and 
criminal conduct. A strictly enforced reporting regime deters and 
reveals legal violations and aids in the enforcement of the LMRDA's 
civil and criminal penalties. For example, on February 12, 2020, in the 
United States District Court for the Central District of California, 
after a six-day trial, a jury found John S. Romero, former President of 
United Industrial Services Worker of America (UISWA), located in 
Colton, California, guilty of 1 count of conspiracy to commit theft or 
embezzlement in connection with health care (18 U.S.C. 371), 12 counts 
of theft or embezzlement of approximately $800,000 in connection with 
health care (18 U.S.C. 669), and 1 count of filing a false LM financial 
report with the Department, in which he failed to properly report more 
than $100,000 in receipts and disbursements (18 U.S.C. 1001). Romero's 
family members, who were co-defendants (son John J. Romero, former 
UISWA Secretary-Treasurer; daughter Danae Romero, former UISWA Trustee; 
and ex-wife Evelyn Romero, former UISWA President), had each previously 
pleaded guilty to counts under the indictment and testified at trial on 
behalf of the government. The guilty verdict followed an investigation 
by the OLMS Los Angeles District Office, Department of Labor's Office 
of Inspector General, and the Employee Benefits Security 
Administration. https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/former-labor-union-president-convicted-conspiracy-embezzling-union-health-plan-funds.
    On December 18, 2019, in the United States District Court for the 
Southern District of West Virginia, Eric Childress, former Secretary-
Treasurer of Communications Workers of America Local 2276 (located in 
Bluefield, West Virginia), pleaded guilty to one count of making a 
false entry in a union record, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 439(c). The 
guilty plea followed an investigation by the OLMS Philadelphia-
Pittsburgh District Office. https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/enforce_2019.htm.
    On January 29, 2019, in the United States District Court for the 
Eastern District of Pennsylvania, John Dougherty, Business Manager of 
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 (located in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), was charged in an indictment with 1 count 
of conspiracy to embezzle from a labor union and employee benefits plan 
(18 U.S.C. 371), 34 counts of embezzlement of union funds (29 U.S.C. 
501(c)), 23 counts of wire fraud theft from the union (18 U.S.C. 1343), 
2 counts of wire fraud theft from political action committee (18 U.S.C. 
1343), 2 counts of filing a false LM report (29 U.S.C. 439(b)), 2 
counts of falsifying union records (29 U.S.C. 439(c)), 5 counts of 
filing false federal income tax returns (26 U.S.C. 7206(1)), 1 count of 
conspiracy to accept unlawful payments from an employer (18 U.S.C. 
371), 8 counts of accepting unlawful payments from an employer (29 
U.S.C. 186(a)(2),(b)(1) & (d)(2)), 1 count of conspiracy to commit 
honest services fraud and federal program bribery (18 U.S.C. 371), 11 
counts of honest services wire fraud (18 U.S.C. 1343, 1346), and 1 
count of honest services mail fraud (18 U.S.C. 1341, 1346). The charges 
followed an investigation by the OLMS Philadelphia-Pittsburgh District 
Office, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Department 
of Labor's Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the Pennsylvania State 
Police, and the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.  https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/enforce_2019.htm.
    On September 21, 2017, in the United States District Court for the 
Northern District of Illinois, Bobby Buford, former President of UAW 
Local 2419 (located in Danville, Illinois), was sentenced to 21 months 
of incarceration and 3 years of supervised release, and he was ordered 
to pay restitution of $129,723 and a $100 special assessment. On 
November 10, 2016, Buford pled guilty to one count of mail fraud, in 
violation of 18 U.S.C. 1341, for diverting over $129,723 in unions 
funds for personal use. While he served as president of the union, 
Buford made cash withdrawals and issued cashier's checks from the 
accounts for his own personal benefit. Buford then covered up his 
scheme by mailing false annual reports to the Department. The false 
reports underreported the amount of dues and fees collected from union 
members, inflated the balance of the union's accounts, and omitted his 
personal withdrawals from the accounts. https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdil/pr/former-president-uaw-local-2419-danville-sentenced-prison-embezzling-union-funds' https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/enforce_2017.htm.
    Those are just a handful of examples. The proposed enhancements, as 
more fully described below, would also ensure that information is 
reported in such a way as to meet the objectives of the LMRDA by 
providing labor organization members with useful data that will enable 
them to be responsible and effective participants in the democratic 
governance of their labor organizations. The proposed changes are 
designed to provide members of labor organizations with additional and 
more detailed information about the financial activities of their labor 
organization than is available through the current reporting.
    These proposed revisions are consistent with the goals of the LMRDA 
and its purposes as discussed above and

[[Page 64730]]

in connection with the Department's 2002 NPRM and 2003 Final Rule, as 
well as the 2008 NPRM and 2009 Final Rule, which ultimately did not go 
into effect but put forward similar revisions.\3\ This proposed rule is 
considered to be an Executive Order (E.O.) 13771 regulatory action. 
Details on the estimated costs of this final rule can be found in the 
rule's economic analysis.
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    \3\ The Department has recently created a new form, the Form T-
1, for certain labor organization trusts as another means to combat 
union and management corruption and to prevent circumvention or 
evasion of the LMRDA reporting requirements. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-03-06/pdf/2020-03958.pdf.
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    The OLMS Electronic Forms System (EFS) makes it simpler to complete 
LM reports than it was at the time of previous updates to the Form LM-
2. This web-based system enables labor organizations, their officials, 
employers, and labor relations consultants to complete and submit LM 
reports to OLMS. Currently, EFS can be used by filers of Forms LM-2, 
LM-3, LM-4, LM- 10 Employer Report, LM-20 Agreement and Activities 
Report, LM-21 Receipts and Disbursements Report, LM-30 Labor 
Organization Officer and Employee Report, and Form T-1 Trust 
Report.\4\\\ The filer accesses EFS to register for an EFS User ID and 
password, obtain a union PIN, as well as edit account information or 
retrieve existing passwords or User IDs. By accessing EFS, the filer 
can also obtain, work on, or sign and submit an LM form. EFS allows 
anyone with a web-enabled computer to complete, sign, and 
electronically file a Form LM-2, LM-3, LM-4, LM-10, LM-20, LM-21, and 
LM-30 without purchasing a digital signature or downloading special 
software. EFS performs all calculations for the LM reports and 
completes a form error check prior to submission. EFS also allows 
unions that maintain electronic accounting records to import financial 
data from their accounting programs directly into the Form LM-2 or LM-3 
they are completing.\5\
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    \4\ As discussed, Forms LM-2, LM-3 and LM-4 are labor 
organization annual financial disclosure forms. The Form LM-10 
Employer Report requires employers to file annual reports to 
disclose certain specified financial dealings with their employees, 
unions, union agents, and labor relations consultants.
    The Form LM-20 Agreement and Activities Report requires that 
every person, including a labor relations consultant, who enters 
into an arrangement with an employer under which he or she 
undertakes activities where an object thereof is, directly or 
indirectly, to persuade employees about exercising their rights to 
organize and bargain collectively, or obtain information about the 
activities of employees or a union in connection with a labor 
dispute involving the employer (except information solely for 
administrative, arbitral, or court proceedings) must file an 
Agreement and Activities Report, Form LM-20.
    Every person required to file a Form LM-20 also must file the 
annual Receipts and Disbursements Report, Form LM-21, if any 
payments were made or received during the fiscal year as a result of 
arrangements of the kind requiring the Form LM-20.
    Pursuant to the instructions for the Form LM-30 Union Officer 
and Employee Report, labor organization officers or employees (other 
than exclusively clerical or custodial employees) who have directly 
or indirectly held any legal or equitable interest in, received any 
payments from, or engaged in any transactions or arrangements with 
certain employers or businesses must file a report with OLMS.
    The Form T-1 was published, on March 6, 2020, and requires 
annual reporting by Form LM-2 filing labor organizations on 
financial information pertinent to ``trusts in which a labor 
organization is interested'' (``section 3(l) trusts''). See: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-03-06/pdf/2020-03958.pdf. The 
rule requires a labor organization with total annual receipts 
$250,000 or more to file a Form T-1, under certain circumstances, 
for each section 3(l) trust, as defined by 29 U.S.C. 402(l) of the 
LMRDA. Under this rule, the Form T-1 reporting requirements are 
triggered where the labor organization during the reporting period, 
either alone or in combination with other labor organizations, (1) 
selects or appoints the majority of the members of the trust's 
governing board, or (2) contributes more than 50 percent of the 
trust's receipts.
    \5\ The current Form LM-4 does not contain schedules. Therefore, 
EFS does not have a function for importing electronic data into the 
Form LM-4.
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B. Canvassing OLMS Field Investigators

i. Field Investigators Response on Benefits and Drawbacks of Form LM-2
    In July and September of 2019, the Department sought information 
from its OLMS field investigators on the benefits or drawbacks of the 
changes made to the Form LM-2 by the 2003 rulemaking. This is in 
keeping with the 2009 rule's suggestion for additional study of the 
2003 changes, such as by reviewing them with OLMS staff. As discussed 
below, this review has been helpful to the Department by confirming 
disclosure requirements' helpful role in ensuring union democracy and 
transparency under the LMRDA. Indeed, some of the comments provided by 
OLMS staff are directly implemented as proposed revisions to the LM 
forms. The Department of does not, however, view itself as restricted 
to these comments when deciding how to revise the LM forms. The staff's 
comments demonstrate that many of the reforms accomplished in 2003 have 
been helpful to OLMS in uncovering and deterring wrongdoing. Further 
reforms, including those suggested by the staff, are intended to 
further protect union members' rights and enhance compliance with the 
LMRDA.
    For these same reasons, the Department is of the view that this 
proposed rule is an appropriate exercise of its discretion in 
administering the LMRDA. See Ala. Educ. Ass'n v. Chao, 539 F. Supp. 2d 
378, 384 (D.D.C. 2008). The Department's October 2009 rule stated that 
the Department should consider the utility of increased reporting 
against the burdens it imposes, citing various types of legislative 
history about the need for government to not impede union self-
governance. The LMRDA weights that balance heavily in favor of 
``necessary protection of the rights and interests of employees and the 
public generally as they relate to the activities of labor 
organizations, employers, labor relations consultants, and their 
officers and representatives.'' 29 U.S.C. 401(b). The LMRDA ``is 
necessary to eliminate or prevent improper practices on the part of 
labor organizations'' and others. Id. 401(c). While this rule would 
incur some new burdens on labor unions, the Department views those 
burdens as necessary and appropriate to ensure transparency and prevent 
malfeasance before it happens. The Department views this as especially 
important now given the massive UAW criminal scheme and a smaller but 
steady stream of criminal misconduct despite the Department's vigorous 
enforcement of the LMRDA. Other aspects of this rule propose reducing 
reporting obligations where those have proved to be unhelpful in 
effecting the LMRDA's purposes.
    Further, the LMRDA's comprehensive reporting regime, including as 
enhanced by this proposed rule, does not impede but furthers union 
self-governance. The changes to the LM forms proposed in this rule give 
union members more information about how their elected leaders are 
using their funds, allowing them to better hold them accountable and 
better ensuring that the LMRDA is followed. Robust reporting regimes 
are the norm under the securities laws, in lobbying and in 
contributions to political candidates, and in many other areas where 
voters select officials who are charged with their trust. Accounting 
ensures accountability. ``Sunlight is said to be the best of 
disinfectants,'' and that is true here as well. Louis D. Brandeis, 
Other People's Money 92 (1914).

[[Page 64731]]

    A questionnaire summarized the changes made in 2003 and asked 
``whether the changes made to the Form LM-2 in 2003 have aided or 
hindered OLMS in its enforcement activities.'' \6\ Field personnel were 
advised that ``[w]e are looking to determine whether the changes OLMS 
made to the Form LM-2 in 2003 have proven beneficial. The document LM 
Form Benefits of 2003 Changes contains a description of the changes 
made in 2003. Please ask your district directors to meet with their 
staff. I envision each office holding a 30 minute brainstorming 
session. The idea is to determine whether the new parts of the Form LM-
2, like itemization or functional categories, have helped with 
investigations.''
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    \6\ This questionnaire and the responses to it have been made 
part of the administrative record and will be available at the start 
of the comment period, along with the comments that will be filed by 
the public. Note: The first response included in the questionnaire 
was included as an example to demonstrate to the investigators what 
type of information was being sought.
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    For the convenience of the investigators, the changes were 
summarized as follows:
    1. $5,000 Itemization threshold: Form LM-2 filers itemize certain 
categories of receipts and disbursements of $5,000 or more, as well as 
receipts and disbursements to a single entity that total (aggregate to) 
$5,000 or more in the reporting year.
    2. $5,000 Itemization Confidentiality Exemption: Provides labor 
organizations with a procedure to avoid itemizing disbursements that 
would reveal the following types of information:
     Information that would identify individuals paid by the 
union to work in a non-union bargaining unit in order to assist the 
union in organizing employees;
     Information that would expose the reporting union's 
prospective organizing strategy;
     Information that would provide a tactical advantage to 
parties with whom the reporting union or an affiliated union is engaged 
or will be engaged in contract negotiations;
     Information pursuant to a settlement that is subject to a 
confidentiality agreement, or that the union is otherwise prohibited by 
law from disclosing; and
     Information in those situations where disclosure would 
endanger the health or safety of an individual.
    3. Disbursements are reported in specified categories 
(Representational Activities; Political Activities and Lobbying; 
Contributions, Gifts and Grants; General Overhead; and Union 
Administration).
    4. Functional Reporting: The LM-2 requires unions to estimate the 
time spent by each union officer and employee on different duties, 
based on the categories of activities represented by the LM-2 schedules 
and represented as percentage of work time totaling 100 percent. Unions 
then report the portion of gross salaries for each schedule based on 
the percentage of time estimates.
    5. Accounts Payable/Receivable: The LM-2 includes schedules 
designed for reporting delinquent accounts payable and receivable (with 
the typical LM-2 itemization threshold of $5,000).
    6. Reporting of Investments: The LM-2 requires unions to report all 
investments that both have a book value greater than $5,000 and 
represent five percent or more of the union's investments.
    7. Membership Categories: The LM-2 requires unions to report their 
number of members by aggregate categories (unions can determine the 
categories for reporting).
    First, with regard to the $5,000 itemization threshold, the field 
investigators noted that itemization aided in determining whether Form 
LM-30 and Form LM-10 cases should be opened, aided in embezzlement 
investigations, and was an important case targeting tool.\7\ One office 
stated, ``Of the seven changes to the Form LM-2 in 2003, the consensus 
is that the [existing] $5,000 itemization threshold was the best of the 
seven as it provides more transparency to the membership and can be 
utilized for targeting special report investigations.'' Itemization is 
important because it can reveal unlawful payments to identified 
individuals. It can reveal conflicts of interest that are reportable on 
other LMRDA forms.\8\ Absent itemization, this information would not be 
known.
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    \7\ Pursuant to the instructions for the Form LM-10 Employer 
Report, employers must file annual reports to disclose certain 
specified financial dealings with their employees, unions, union 
agents, and labor relations consultants. Pursuant to the 
instructions for the Form LM-30 Union Officer and Employee Report, 
labor organization officers or employees (other than exclusively 
clerical or custodial employees) who have directly or indirectly 
held any legal or equitable interest in, received any payments from, 
or engaged in any transactions or arrangements with certain 
employers or businesses must file a report with OLMS. This report is 
submitted on a Form LM-30 and is required to make public any actual 
or likely conflict between the personal financial interests of union 
officers or employees and their obligations to the union and its 
members. Form LM-10 and LM-30 cases, along with several other case 
types, are called ``special reports'' cases.
    \8\ See prior footnote for discussion of the type of 
transactions that might trigger other LMRDA reports.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Second, with regard to the confidentiality exemption, one 
investigator wrote that it ``has been a hindrance in case targeting 
because it allows unions to hide transactions under the guise that it 
will hurt their organizational strategy.'' Others felt that it likely 
benefited only unions but they could also see how some reporting might 
be harmful to the unions. The confidentiality exemption attempts to 
protect important labor union interests, but it reduces transparency by 
eliminating itemization.
    Third, with regard to functional categories (reporting of 
disbursements in specified categories i.e., Representational 
Activities, Political Activities and Lobbying; Contributions, Gifts and 
Grants; General Overhead; and Union Administration), the field offered 
examples of being able to target audits ``based on unusual 
categorization patterns.'' They also ``traced categorized transfers 
between affiliates that indicated reporting or other potential LMRDA 
violations.'' On the other hand, investigators noted that the $5,000 
itemization occurs only within each category so that disbursements of 
more than $5,000 might not be itemized if the disbursement fell under 
more than one category. Functional reporting aids in understanding the 
purposes of labor union spending but it can cloak individual 
transactions because of the $5,000 itemization threshold.
    Another investigator felt that two of the categories, Schedule 18--
General Overhead and Schedule 19--Union Administration, were similar 
and were confused by labor organizations.\9\
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    \9\ In reflecting on this assertion, OLMS reviewed the 
instructions and finds that there is an adequate distinction between 
union administration (``includes disbursements relating to the 
nomination and election of union officers, the union's regular 
membership meetings, intermediate, national and international 
meetings, union disciplinary proceedings, the administration of 
trusteeships, and the administration of apprenticeship and member 
education programs'') and general overhead (``support personnel at 
the labor organization's headquarters, such as building maintenance 
personnel and security guards, and other overhead costs'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Fourth, with regard to union officers and employees allocating 
their time by functional categories, the investigators stated that the 
reporting of time in categories could not be audited, could not be 
enforced, and did not lead to other enforcement activity. One field 
office stated, ``It provides unverifiable disclosure information to the 
public.'' Another stated flatly that ``this information offers no 
valuable insight for case targeting and has provided no benefit in 
criminal investigations or compliance audits.'' Another wrote, ``It is 
and will always be a ballpark guess and the categories are confusing to 
the

[[Page 64732]]

union and to OLMS field staff.'' Functional reporting, which discloses 
the amount of time union officers and employees spend on different 
functions, arguably does not provide investigators with useful 
information in enforcing or administering the LMRDA.
    Fifth, with regard to accounts payable/receivable aging schedules, 
one field office wrote that the information is ``necessary to determine 
how much the union is owed/owes.'' Another thought it was ``useful to 
encounter embezzlements.'' This schedule can reveal the financial 
health of the labor union and can disclose delinquent or troubled 
accounts or questionable financial transactions.
    Sixth, with regard to reporting of investments, one office found it 
necessary for tracking purposes on investments from year to year. 
Another determined that it ``can be useful to the field and to 
members.'' Another said, ``This is useful to the extent the unions are 
able to figure out how to report it. We have found corroborating 
information reported here that has been useful in a criminal 
investigation as well as a union officer reports case.'' Another office 
concluded that the information was ``good for union members.'' The 
schedule enables a union member to learn about the performance of union 
investments. Further, it assists in other aspects of union reporting. 
As described above, union officers and employees must file a Form LM-30 
if they or their spouses or minor children received certain payments, 
held certain interests, or engaged in certain transactions involving, 
for example, the represented employer. The Form LM-30 also covers 
payments from businesses, such as vendors and service providers, that 
buy from or sell to such employers, the official's union, or the 
union's trust. A union investment in a union official's business would 
necessitate a Form LM-30 and this schedule would reveal such an 
interest.
    Seventh, with regard to membership categories, investigators found 
it helpful in that the categories many times include agency fee payers 
and that it assists in determining the active dues paying members, as 
it corresponds to dues receipts. This is particularly helpful in trade 
unions where there are different levels of memberships. Another 
investigator felt that it was helpful to estimate dues receipts and 
very useful in union election cases.
    In summary, field investigators were in favor of itemization, 
believing it provides both transparency and aids investigations. The 
investigators recognized the need for some confidentiality for labor 
unions but also believed the confidentiality exemption detracted from 
transparency. With regard to functional categories, the field 
investigators believed that it helped in selecting unions for audit but 
reduced transparency by limiting the number of itemized transactions. 
The field discerned no value in union officers and union employees 
allocating their time by functional categories. The investigators 
believed the accounts payable/receivable aging schedules, as well as 
reporting of investments, aided in the enforcement of the LMRDA. With 
regard to membership categories, the investigators found it helpful 
when targeting audits, estimating dues receipts, and in running 
supervised elections.
ii. Field Investigators' Responses on Items To Be Added to the 
Reporting Forms
    The investigators were also asked to identify any information that 
is not currently available on the Form LM-2 but would be useful to OLMS 
in its mission or to union members interested in their union's 
financial conditions, operations, and activities. They were also asked 
to identify any unnecessary information now reported on the annual 
disclosure forms. The regional directors were directed to ``canvas your 
district directors to identify any changes that could be made to the 
Form LM-2/3/4 annual financial disclosure form. The idea is to consider 
what additional information would be useful to OLMS in its mission or 
to union members interested in their union's financial conditions, 
operations, and activities. Conversely, if you believe that certain 
information now reported on the annual disclosure forms is unnecessary, 
please let us know.''
    Two responses advocated removing three of the special procedures 
for reporting confidential information. Under these procedures, the 
following information is subject to special reporting privileges under 
the confidentiality exception: (1) Information that would identify 
individuals paid by the union to work in a non-union facility in order 
to assist the union in organizing employees, provided that such 
individuals are not employees of the union who receive more than 
$10,000 in the aggregate from the union in the reporting year; (2) 
information that would expose the reporting union's prospective 
organizing strategy; (3) information that would provide a tactical 
advantage to parties with whom the reporting union or an affiliated 
union is engaged or would be engaged in contract negotiations; (4) 
information pursuant to a settlement that is subject to a 
confidentiality agreement, or that the union is otherwise prohibited by 
law from disclosing; and (5) information in those situations where 
disclosure would endanger the health or safety of an individual. The 
investigator would eliminate the first three of these exceptions. As 
mentioned above, the confidentiality exemption attempts to protect 
important labor union interests, but eliminating itemization provides a 
means for unscrupulous filers to avoid scrutiny of questionable 
transactions.
    A district director recommended that the forms identify whether the 
labor union filing the report is under trusteeship. This would allow 
easy and immediate recognition of trusteeship, the district director 
concluded. Under the LMRDA, a labor organization that has imposed a 
trusteeship over a subordinate labor organization must file an initial 
trusteeship report on Form LM-15, including a Statement of Assets and 
Liabilities, within 30 days after the date of the imposition of the 
trusteeship. By requiring Form LM-2 filers to disclose their 
trusteeship status, OLMS would be better able to enforce the Form LM-15 
filing obligation.
    A district director suggested a question that would identify 
officers and employees who were paid $10,000 or more by the filing 
labor organization and other labor organizations. Similarly, an 
investigator suggested that OLMS add the following question to the Form 
LM-2: ``Has any officer who received $10,000 or more by your 
organization also received $10,000 or more as an officer or employee of 
another labor organization or of an employee benefit plan?'' If the 
answer is ``yes,'' the union would be required to complete a table 
listing the name of the officer, the amount paid, and the file number 
of any filing affiliate. This query would provide union members with 
more complete information about their union officials' compensation and 
would assist in determining whether officials are receiving 
compensation twice for the same expenses or same work.
    A regional director asked for a change in wording on a question on 
the Form LM-2. Instead of asking whether the labor organization had 
``discovered'' a shortage of funds, the labor organization would be 
asked whether the labor organization has ``experienced'' a shortage of 
funds. Specifically, Item 13 asks, ``During the reporting period did 
the labor organization discover any loss or shortage of funds or other 
assets?'' The regional director would change this sentence to read, 
``[d]uring the reporting period did the labor organization

[[Page 64733]]

experience any loss or shortage of funds or other assets?'' The 
regional director reasoned, ``Since the person embezzling funds is 
often the same person that completes the LM report, to ensure [false 
reporting] can be used as an alternative violation/charge, these 
questions should ask if the union experienced and/or discovered a 
loss.''
    An investigator recommended revising the Form LM-3 to add a 
schedule requiring the labor union to identify disbursements to 
employees. Similarly, the investigator recommended that the Form LM-4 
require the labor union to complete a schedule of all officers and 
disbursements to officers. To minimize burden for labor unions with 
fewer financial resources, the Form LM-3 currently does not require 
unions to identify disbursements to employees. Similarly, the Form LM-4 
does not require filers to identify disbursements to employees or to 
identify officers.
    An investigator opined that OLMS should add a column to the 
schedule of compensation to officers and employees. This would affect 
Schedule 11--All Officers and Disbursements to Officers and Schedule 
12--Disbursements to Employees. The column would identify disbursements 
for benefits paid to the officers. The investigator recommended that, 
in light of these changes, Schedule 20--Benefits, could be 
eliminated.\10\
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    \10\ The investigator's recommendation is based on a faulty 
premise. Reporting of disbursements to employees and officers and 
the schedule next to their names would not eliminate the need for a 
schedule of benefits. The benefits schedule would still be needed to 
allow the labor organization to report its disbursements associated 
with benefits of members and their beneficiaries.
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    One investigator offered that labor organizations that file Form 
LM-4 should disclose the date of their next scheduled election of 
officers. Form LM-2 and Form LM-3 filers already report election dates. 
Requiring election dates on Form LM-4 reports would assist union 
members in participating in the governance of their union. It would aid 
OLMS in the enforcement of Title IV election provisions of the LMRDA.
    With regard to Schedule 4--Purchase of Investments and Fixed 
Assets, an investigator proposed adding a column to show credit 
received on purchases, such as a trade-in of an automobile. Absent such 
information, the ``cash paid'' column on Schedule 4--Purchase of 
Investments and Fixed Assets, will appear misleadingly low.
    With regard to Item 46--On Behalf of Affiliates for Transmittal to 
Them and its counterpart Item 63--To Affiliates of Funds Collected on 
Their Behalf, one investigator proposed to require a description of the 
types of funds being withheld and transmitted. That investigator had 
the same suggestion with regard to Item 47--From Members for 
Disbursements on Their Behalf and Item 64--On Behalf of Individual 
Members. Currently, the filer must enter the total receipts from 
members that are specifically designated by them for disbursement on 
their behalf. For example, contributions from members for transmittal 
by the labor organization to charities would be reported. Requiring a 
description of the types of funds being withheld and transmitted would 
enable members to know which of their funds were being channeled and 
where the funds ultimately went. It would also require a new schedule.
    A regional director recommended that (1) LM forms and instructions 
should be translated into Spanish, (2) reports should list the 
principal employers of the union members, along with the city and 
state, (3) the fiscal year should appear on top of each page of the 
reports, (4) the report should disclose distributions to PAC funds and 
PAC fund payees, (5) the report should disclose if an officer or 
employee of a union also receives compensation from another labor 
union. A Spanish version of the instructions would be helpful for 
Spanish-speaking union officers but would make the report inaccessible 
to non-Spanish speakers. A list of the principal employers would be 
helpful in criminal investigations but would be difficult to administer 
as the phrase ``principal employers'' is not clear. A list of PAC fund 
payees would be redundant to other election-related reporting.
    An investigator recommended that OLMS require reporting of 
transactions if an officer or employee, or a spouse or minor child of 
the officer or employee, either directly or indirectly held any legal 
or equitable interest, received any payments, or engaged in 
transactions or arrangements (including loans) of the types described 
in the Form LM-30 instructions. Under the Form LM-30, union officers or 
employees (except employees performing exclusively clerical or 
custodial services) must file a Form LM-30 if they or their spouses or 
minor children (less than 21 years of age) either directly or 
indirectly received certain payments, held certain interests, or 
engaged in certain transactions involving (1) the employers whose 
employees the union represents or actively seeks to represent (i.e., 
the represented employer); (2) businesses, such as vendors and service 
providers, that buy from or sell to such employers, the official's 
union, or the union's trust; and (3) other employers from which a 
payment could create a conflict. The investigator's work on a complex 
case involving the UAW in Detroit led this investigator to believe that 
this information would be valuable in identifying such cases, and 
having them prosecuted.
    An investigator endorsed using the IRS Principal Business or 
Professional Activities Codes to answer the ``Type or Classification 
(B)'' column Schedules 14 through 19. As background, the instructions 
for the Form LM-2 require labor organizations to ``[e]nter in Column 
(B) the type of business or job classification of the entity or 
individual.'' The instructions for the Annual Report Form 5500 includes 
a chart of the codes, which are available online. General Instructions 
to Form 5500-SF, p. 23. The investigator opined that these codes would 
help get more uniform answers and prevent some of the vague and 
deficient answers.
    An investigator recommended that union vendors should be listed 
with their Employer Identification Number (EIN), a nine-digit number 
that the IRS assigns to identify the tax accounts of employers and 
certain others who have no employees. EINs are used by employers, sole 
proprietors, corporations, partnerships, non-profit associations, 
trusts, estates of decedents, government agencies, and other business 
entities. The investigator explained that sham businesses often do not 
have an EIN.
    For the Form LM-4, a supervisory investigator recommended requiring 
labor unions to list the names of officers, as well as identifying 
whether the officer is continuing in office, is a past officer, or is a 
new officer. This would allow OLMS to better be able to locate and 
contact officers of a union other than the signers of its previous LM-
4, should both of those signers leave office. That supervisory 
investigator also recommended adding the date of next election of 
officers to the Form LM-4, allowing OLMS to determine any turnover in 
officers in a union and to aid in locating/contacting officers of a 
union. It would also enable OLMS to avoid scheduling an audit at a time 
close to a labor union officer election.
    A district director recommended eliminating a reporting exception 
applicable to Item 24 of the Form LM-3. The reporting exception is also 
applicable to Schedule 11--All Officers and Disbursements to Officers 
and Schedule 12--Disbursements to Employees of the Form LM-2. This 
exception covers ``indirect disbursements for temporary lodging

[[Page 64734]]

(room rent charges only) or transportation by public carrier necessary 
for conducting official business while the officer is in travel status 
away from his or her home and principal place of employment with [the 
labor] organization if payment is made by [the] organization directly 
to the provider or through a credit arrangement.'' The district 
director explained that the exception is cumbersome to follow (and even 
for OLMS representatives to explain to the regulated community), 
unnecessary for accurate disclosure, and contrary to the procedures 
applied to disclosure for the remainder of transactions reportable in 
Item 24 and Schedules 11 and 12. By disclosing those transactions as 
payments to officers or employees (rather than in more general 
categories elsewhere on the reports), the public would know who really 
benefited from them, the district director concluded.
    With regard to Schedule 3--Sale of Investments and Fixed Assets and 
Schedule 4--Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets, a regional 
director proposed separation into two different schedules. This would, 
it was asserted, more easily allow for a reconciliation of investments 
and fixed assets by using beginning of year figures plus sales, minus 
receipts, and comparing to end of year figures. This cannot currently 
be done using electronic data because investments and fixed assets are 
combined. This would arguably provide better transparency for 
evaluation of the performance of investments.
    An investigator suggested that automobiles purchased and sold 
should be specifically identified either with a VIN or by detailed 
description, similar to the requirement for land and buildings. This 
would provide better transparency for vehicles as the current schedules 
require labor organizations report only the cost, book value, sales 
price, and amount received. Any extraordinary handling of a vehicle 
such as, for example, a sale well below book value would be obvious.
    A district director proposed removing Line (I) (estimated 
percentage of time spent by the officer/employee on activities that 
fall within Schedules 15 through 19) from Schedule 11--All Officers and 
Disbursements to Officers and Schedule 12--Disbursements to Employees. 
In lieu of these time estimates, the district director recommended the 
addition of a more detailed breakdown of disbursements reported to 
officers and employees in (1) the salaries reported in Column D; (2) 
the allowances reported in Column E; (3) the reimbursed expenses 
reported in Column F; and (4) other disbursements reporting in Column 
G.
    For example, the district director continued, the report of 
salaries paid to an officer/employee would be broken down and reported 
in the following categories: (1) Salary, (2) lost wages, and (3) 
bonuses. In another example, the reporting of reimbursed expenses paid 
to an officer/employee could be reported in the following categories: 
(1) Disbursements for meal expenses/entertainment', (2) disbursements 
for mileage, (3) disbursements for travel expenses, and (4) 
disbursements for union vehicle expenses. This additional information 
on salary, allowances, reimbursed expenses, and other disbursements 
would provide better transparency to union members and the public on 
how union funds are being spent. Further, this would provide OLMS 
additional data for targeting potential compliance audits and/or 
criminal cases, it was asserted.
    Other suggestions included a requirement that the union report 
contact phone numbers and/or email addresses for all executive 
officers, require Form LM-3 filers to list all employees, and require 
LM-4 filers to list all officers. This would make it easier for OLMS 
investigators to contact the correct union officials, in the event of 
an investigation or audit.
    The union, an investigator recommended, should provide the date of 
the most recent constitution and bylaws. This would assist the members 
in participating in the governance of their union and would aid OLMS in 
administering the Title IV election provisions of the LMRDA.
    Taking the field's observations under consideration, along with 
OLMS' experiences in the administration of current reporting 
requirements, the Department makes the following proposals to establish 
a Form LM-2 Long Form (LF), and revise the Form LM-2.

C. Proposed Form LM-2 LF

    In light of the Department's experience and observations, and to 
increase transparency for the benefit of union members, the public, and 
the Department, the Department proposes a long form version of the Form 
LM-2, the Form LM-2 LF. This form will be applicable to labor 
organizations with annual receipts of $8,000,000 or more. The 
$8,000,000 threshold is based on the Small Business Administration's 
definition of a small entity, as identified by North American Industry 
Classification System (NAICS) codes. 13 CFR 121.201. Some small-entity 
thresholds are lower, and some are higher; the Department has sought a 
threshold that ensures proper coverage of large unions while not 
overburdening smaller unions. By setting this threshold, the Department 
will bring additional transparency to the largest and most prominent 
labor unions.
    When practicable, the changes to the form are set out in this 
section in the order in which they would appear on the form. When no 
change to an item is proposed, that fact is also noted. New material, 
added by this proposal, will be discussed in the order it would appear 
in a revised form. A facsimile of the current LM-2 is available at 
https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/GPEA_Forms/forms/Form_LM2_2021.pdf. And the full proposed LM-2 LF is available on the 
rulemaking docket on www.regulations.gov.
    The Department invites comment on all aspects of the proposed 
changes to the forms. In particular, the Department seeks comments on 
the following questions:
     Are there other changes to the LM forms that would help 
deter or expose potential misuse of union members' funds or other 
violations of the LMRDA?
     Are there other problematic practices involving, for 
instance, wastes of union funds, conflicts of interest, or failures to 
discharge fiduciary duties faithfully that potentially could be 
deterred or exposed by revisions to the LM forms?
     Are there other changes to the form that would help ensure 
transparency and accountability to the public, to union members, and to 
the Department regarding uses of union members' funds?
     Are there other means for union members to obtain the 
information sought in the proposal that would decrease the reporting 
burden on unions or maintain union confidentiality without sacrificing 
transparency and accountability?
    Item 1--File Number. The Department proposes no change to this 
item.
    Item 2--Period Covered. The Department proposes no change to this 
item.
    Item 3--Amended, Hardship Exempted, Terminal, or Trusteeship 
Report. The Department proposes to add ``(d) TRUSTEESHIP'' with a 
checkbox to Item 3. The checkbox would indicate that the report is 
being filed by a labor organization for a subordinate labor 
organization that it has placed in trusteeship. This would assist the 
Department to determine whether a labor union is in trusteeship to 
ensure that the appropriate trusteeship reports (Form LM-15, Form LM-
15A, or Form

[[Page 64735]]

LM-16) are also filed.\11\ The Form LM-2 LF is only for labor 
organizations in trusteeships with $8,000,000 or more in annual 
receipts. Other trusteeships would be reported on the Form LM-2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ The Form LM-15 Trusteeship Report requires both initial and 
semiannual reports. Initial reports are due within 30 days after a 
labor union imposes a trusteeship over a subordinate union. The form 
is filed by the parent union and it discloses the reasons for the 
trusteeship, when it was established, the financial condition of the 
trusteed union at the time the trusteeship was established, and 
other required information. Semiannual reports are due within 30 
days after the end of each 6-month period for the duration of the 
trusteeship. The parent union must file a semiannual report, on Form 
LM-15, explaining its reasons for continuing the trusteeship.
    Form LM-15A must be filed with a semiannual or terminal 
trusteeship report if, during the period covered by the report, 
there was any convention or other policy-determining body to which 
the subordinate union sent delegates or would have sent delegates if 
not in trusteeship, or any election of officers of the union that 
imposed the trusteeship over the subordinate union.
    Within 90 days after the termination of the trusteeship, or the 
loss of identity as a reporting organization by the trusteed union, 
the parent union must file a Terminal Trusteeship Report, Form LM-
16.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Item 4--Affiliation or Organization Name. The Department proposes 
no change to this item.
    Item 5--Designation. The Department proposes no change to this 
item.
    Item 6--Designation Number. The Department proposes no change to 
this item.
    Item 7--Unit Name. The Department proposes no change to this item.
    Item 8--Mailing Address. The Department proposes no change to this 
item.
    Item 9--Records Kept. The Department proposes no change to these 
items.
    Item 10--Trust or Other Fund. The Department proposes to 
redesignate the current Item 10 as Item 10(a).
    The Department also proposes a new Item 10(b), concerning payments 
from more than one union. Item 10(b) would ask whether, during the 
reporting period, an officer or employee who was paid $10,000 or more 
by the reporting organization also received $10,000 or more as an 
officer or employee of another labor organization in gross salaries, 
allowances, and other direct and indirect disbursements during the 
reporting period. If the answer is ``Yes,'' the labor organization 
would provide additional information in Item 75--Additional 
Information.\12\ This additional information would require the union to 
list the name of the officer, amount paid, labor organization that made 
the payment, and file number of the labor organization. This change 
would promote union democracy and accountability by helping members 
understand whether officers and employees are also receiving money from 
another union. This change would also help identify conflicts of 
interest and make it easier to track funds flowing from union to union.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ Current Item 69--Additional Information is proposed to be 
renumbered Item 75--Additional information, with no substantive 
change. For clarity, we use the proposed numbering here.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Item 11--Political Action Committee (PAC) Funds, Subsidiary 
Organizations, and Strike Funds. The Department proposes no changes to 
current Items 11(a) (Political Action Committee funds) and 11(b) 
(Subsidiary organization). The Department proposes a new Item 11(c), in 
which the union would be required to report if it has a separate strike 
fund. If the answer is ``Yes,'' the union must provide, in Item 75--
Additional Information, the amount of funds in the strike fund as of 
the close of the reporting period.
    Strike funds are meant to help meet the basic needs of striking 
workers. Union members likely would be interested in knowing the 
financial strength of the strike fund. This knowledge would help union 
members when considering strategies for dealing with employers.
    Unions promote strike funds to their members and make the case that 
members must contribute to a fund. If the strike fund is not as healthy 
as advertised, this could be a warning sign for members.
    Strike funds are also subject to embezzlement. For example, on 
March 30, 2009, in the United States District Court for the Northern 
District of West Virginia, Steven Snyder, former Financial Secretary of 
Steelworkers Local 5724 (located in Clarington, Ohio), was sentenced to 
five months' incarceration after pleading guilty to embezzling 
$78,893.47 in union strike fund benefits. In another example, a former 
president of Steelworkers Union Local 5000 was indicted for submitting 
more than $185,000 in vouchers to receive Strike Fund benefits for his 
family's expenses between 2010 and 2012. He and his wife had nearly 
$160,000 in income during the same time period. While collecting Strike 
Fund benefits, he made and caused to be made numerous retail purchases 
of non-necessity items, such as dining out at several restaurants and 
the purchase of Carrie Underwood concert tickets. On October 18, 2017, 
in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, 
the defendant was sentenced and ordered to pay restitution. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndoh/pr/former-president-steelworkers-union-local-5000-charged-stealing-hundreds-thousandshttps://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/enforce_2017.htm
    The Department acknowledges that employers may benefit from knowing 
the extent of their employees' union strike fund during negotiations or 
a labor impasse. There is further a potential cost to individual 
members associated with public disclosure. Once publicly-available, the 
information may lead to less favorable contracts, harming the members. 
Given, nevertheless, that strike funds may hold substantial sums that 
otherwise would not be available for public inspection--and thus more 
opportunity for the detection of financial improprieties, as has 
happened in the past--and that public disclosure would make it easier 
for union members to review this information, the Department believes 
the benefits of disclosure outweigh competing considerations. The 
Department requests comment on this item and how it can best ascertain 
the proper and transparent use of union funds, including through strike 
funds.
    Item 12--Audit or Review of Books and Records. The Department 
proposes no change to this item.
    Item 13--Loss or Shortages. The Department proposes to revise Item 
13 to clarify that reporting is required if the filer is aware the 
labor organization has experienced a shortage of funds. Currently Item 
13 asks, ``During the reporting period did the labor organization 
discover any loss or shortage of funds or other assets?'' Yet, the 
person filling out the report may not report anything if he caused the 
loss through embezzlement, on the argument that he always knew of the 
loss. As revised, Item 13 would provide, ``During the reporting period 
did the labor organization experience and/or discover any loss or 
shortage of funds or other assets?'' Currently, reporting is required 
only when the shortage has been discovered. An individual responsible 
for filing the form may be responsible for, and therefore know of, an 
undiscovered embezzlement. The change in wording from ``discover'' to 
``experience and/or discover'' would clarify that all shortages are 
reportable, even if the labor union itself has not discovered the loss, 
and that the union is on inquiry notice to take reasonable steps to 
uncover losses or shortages. This is more in keeping with typical 
financial certifications in which the filer must make reasonable 
inquiries as to things the filer knows or should know. So long as the 
officer filing the report is aware of the shortage, the shortage must 
be reported.

[[Page 64736]]

    Item 14--Fidelity Bond. The Department proposes no change to this 
item.
    Item 15-- Acquisition or Disposition of Assets. The Department 
proposes no change to this item.
    Item 16--Pledged or Encumbered Assets. The Department proposes no 
change to this item.
    Item 17--Contingent Liabilities. The Department proposes no change 
to this item.
    Item 18--Changes in Constitution and Bylaws. The Department 
proposes to re-designate the current Item 18 as Item 18(a). The 
Department proposes a new Item 18(b). This item would require labor 
organizations to provide the date of the labor organizations' current 
constitution and bylaws. This would aid the Department, when conducting 
investigations of union elections and when supervising rerun elections, 
to ensure that the most current and correct provisions are applied. It 
would also aid union members in their efforts to follow the most 
current and accurate union procedures.
    Item 19--Next Regular Election. The Department proposes no change 
to this item.
    Item 20--Number of Members. The Department proposes no change to 
this item. This item is supported by Schedule 13--Membership Status. 
Schedule 13 would be renumbered Schedule 15--Membership Status, without 
any substantive change.
    Item 21--Dues and Fees. The Department proposes no change to this 
item.
Statement A--Assets and Liabilities
    This statement contains two primary sections, ``Assets'' and 
``Liabilities.'' Under each heading are items listed that describe 
categories of assets or liabilities that should be reported. There are 
no proposed changes to the items listed under ``Assets'' and 
``Liabilities.'' Two of the schedules (Schedule 1--Accounts Receivable 
Aging Schedule and Schedule 8--Accounts Payable Aging Schedule) that 
support these items would be revised. Specifically, the Department 
proposes to raise the $5,000 reporting threshold to a $7,500 threshold. 
This thresholds reflects that inflation has occurred since 2003, when 
the $5,000 threshold was promulgated. Further, with fewer transactions 
to itemize, the reporting burden would be reduced.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ The Department's threshold increase to $7,500 will apply 
only to Schedule 1--Accounts Receivable Aging Schedule and Schedule 
8 (proposed to be renumbered as Schedule 10)--Accounts Payable Aging 
Schedule. The other schedule thresholds will remain at $5,000.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Item 22--Cash. The Department proposes no change to this item.
    Item 23--Accounts Receivable. The Department proposes no change to 
this item. Item 23 remains supported by Schedule 1. On its supporting 
schedule (Schedule 1--Accounts Receivable Aging Schedule), the 
Department proposes to raise the $5,000 reporting threshold to a $7,500 
threshold. Accounts Receivable of less than $7,500 need not be 
reported. This 50 percent increase in the threshold would reduce the 
reporting burden.
    Item 24--Loans Receivable. The Department proposes no change to 
this item. Item 24 remains supported by Schedule 2.
    Item 25--U.S. Treasury Securities. The Department proposes no 
change to this item.
    Item 26--Investments. The Department proposes no change to this 
item. This item is supported by Schedule 5--Investments. Schedule 5 
would be renumbered Schedule 7--Investments, without substantive 
change.
    Item 27--Fixed Assets. The Department proposes no change to this 
item. This item is supported by Schedule 6--Fixed Assets. Schedule 6 
would be renumbered Schedule 8--Fixed Assets, without substantive 
change.
    Item 28--Other Assets. The Department proposes no change to this 
item. This item is supported by Schedule 7--Other Assets. Schedule 7 
would be renumbered Schedule 9--Other Assets, without substantive 
change.
    Item 29--Total Assets. The Department proposes no change to this 
item.
    Item 30--Accounts Payable. The Department proposes no change to 
this item. This item is currently supported by Schedule 8--Accounts 
Payable Aging Schedule. Schedule 8 would be renumbered Schedule 10--
Accounts Payable Aging Schedule. The Department proposes to raise the 
$5,000 reporting threshold for that schedule to a $7,500 threshold. 
Accounts payable of less than $7,500 need not be reported.
    Item 31--Loans Payable. The Department proposes no change to this 
item. This item is supported by Schedule 9--Loans Payable. Schedule 9 
would be renumbered Schedule 11-- Loans Payable, without substantive 
change.
    Item 32--Mortgages Payable. The Department proposes no change to 
this item.
    Item 33--Other Liabilities. The Department proposes no change to 
this item. This item is supported by Schedule 10--Other Liabilities. 
Schedule 10 would be renumbered Schedule 12-- Other Liabilities, 
without substantive change.
    Item 34--Total Liabilities. The Department proposes no change to 
this item.
    Item 35--Net Assets. The Department proposes no change to this 
item.
Statement B--Receipts and Disbursements
    This statement contains two sections, ``Cash Receipts'' and ``Cash 
Disbursements.'' Under each heading are items listed that describe 
categories of receipts or disbursements that should be reported. There 
is one proposed change to the items listed under ``Cash Receipts.'' 
Specifically, Item 43--Sale of Investments and Fixed Assets would be 
divided into two items, Item 43--Sale of Investments and Item 44--Sale 
of Fixed Assets. Subsequent items would be renumbered sequentially.
    There are two proposed changes to the items listed under ``Cash 
Disbursements.'' First, Item 50--Political Activities and Lobbying 
would be renumbered and separated into Item 51--Political Activities 
and Item 52--Lobbying. Subsequent items would be renumbered 
sequentially.
    Further, as discussed below, the Department proposes additional 
schedules to correspond to certain items listed under ``Cash Receipts'' 
that currently have no schedules. The Department also proposes 
additional schedules to correspond to items listed under ``Cash 
Disbursements.''
Cash Receipts
    Item 36--Dues and Agency Fees. The Department proposes no change to 
this item. The Department proposes adding a new Schedule 16, discussed 
below.
    Item 37--Per Capita Tax. The Department proposes no change to this 
item. The Department proposes adding a new Schedule 17, discussed 
below.
    Item 38--Fees, Fines, Assessments, Work Permits. The Department 
proposes no change to this item. The Department proposes adding a new 
Schedule 18, discussed below.
    Item 39--Sale of Supplies. The Department proposes no change to 
this item. The Department proposes adding a new Schedule 19, discussed 
below.
    Item 40--Interest. The Department proposes no change to this item.
    Item 41--Dividends. The Department proposes no change to this item.
    Item 42--Rents. The Department proposes no change to this item. The 
Department proposes adding a new Schedule 20.
    Item 43--Sale of Investments and Fixed Assets. The Department 
proposes

[[Page 64737]]

to divide Item 43--Sale of Investments and Fixed Assets into two items. 
Item 43 would be renamed Item 43--Sale of Investments. Item 43 is 
currently supported by Schedule 3--Sale of Investments and Fixed 
Assets. It would be supported by a new Schedule 3, which would be 
Schedule 3--Sale of Investments. The Department proposes a new Item 
44--Sale of Fixed Assets. It would be supported by a new Schedule 4--
Sale of Fixed Assets.
    In doing so, the Department proposes to divide the Sale of 
Investments and Fixed Assets schedule into two schedules. On one 
schedule, Schedule 3--Sale of Investments, labor organizations would 
report receipts from the sale of investments. On another schedule, 
Schedule 4--Sale of Fixed Assets, the labor organization would report 
receipts from the sale of fixed assets.
    Item 44--Loans Obtained. The Department proposes no substantive 
change to this item. Item 44 would be renumbered Item 45. It is 
currently supported by Schedule 9. It would now be supported by 
Schedule 11--Loans Obtained, without substantive change.
    Item 45--Repayments of Loans Made. The Department proposes no 
substantive change to this item. Item 45 would be renumbered Item 46. 
The item remains supported by Schedule 2.
    Item 46--On Behalf of Affiliates for Transmittal to Them. The 
Department proposes no substantive change to this item. Item 46 would 
be renumbered Item 47. Item 47--On Behalf of Affiliates for Transmittal 
would be supported by a new Schedule 21--On Behalf of Affiliates for 
Transmittal to Them.
    Item 47--From Members for Disbursement on Their Behalf. The 
Department proposes no substantive change to this item. Item 47 would 
be renumbered Item 48. Item 48--From Members for Disbursement on Their 
Behalf would be supported by a new Schedule 22--From Members for 
Disbursement on Their Behalf.
    Item 48--Other Receipts. The Department proposes no substantive 
change to this item. Item 48 would be renumbered Item 49. This item 
would no longer be supported by schedule 14. Item 48--Other Receipts 
would be supported by a new Schedule 23--Other Receipts.
    Item 49--Total Receipts. The Department proposes no substantive 
change to this item. Item 49 would be renumbered Item 50.
Cash Disbursements
    Item 50--Representational Activities. The Department proposes to 
divide Item 50--Representational Activities into two items. Item 50 
would be renumbered Item 51 and renamed Item 51--Contract Negotiation 
and Administration. There would be a new Item 52--Organizing. Schedule 
15 would be divided in two and designated Schedule 24--Contract 
Negotiation and Administration and Schedule 25--Organizing.
    Item 51--Political Activities and Lobbying. The Department proposes 
to divide Item 51-- Political Activities and Lobbying into two items. 
Item 51 would be renumbered Item 53, and renamed Item 53--Political 
Activities. There would be a new Item 54--Lobbying. The schedule, 
currently Schedule 16--Political Activities and Lobbying, would be 
split. It would be supported by a new Schedule 26--Political Activities 
and a new Schedule 27--Lobbying.
    In doing so, the Department proposes to break the Political 
Activities and Lobbying schedule into two schedules. On Schedule 26, 
labor organizations would report disbursements for political 
activities. On Schedule 27, the labor organization would report 
lobbying disbursements.
    Item 52--Contributions, Gifts, and Grants. The Department proposes 
no substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 
55--Contributions, Gifts, and Grants. The item would be supported by a 
renumbered Schedule 28--Contributions, Gifts, and Grants, without 
substantive change.
    Item 53--General Overhead. The Department proposes no substantive 
change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 56--General 
Overhead. The Item would be supported by a renumbered Schedule 29--
General Overhead, without substantive change.
    Item 54--Union Administration. The Department proposes no 
substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 
57--Union Administration. This Item would be supported by a renumbered 
Schedule 30--Union Administration, without substantive change.
    Item 55--Benefits: This item would be renumbered Item 58--Benefits. 
The item would be supported by a renumbered and revised Schedule 31--
Benefits, without substantive change.
    Item 56--Per Capita Tax. The Department proposes no substantive 
change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 59--Per Capita 
Tax.
    Item 57--Strike Benefits. The Department proposes no substantive 
change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 60--Strike 
Benefits.
    Item 58.--Fees, Fines, Assessments, etc. The Department proposes no 
substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 
61-- Fees, Fines, Assessments, etc.
    Item 59--Supplies for Resale. The Department proposes no 
substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 
62--Supplies for Resale.
    Item 60--Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets. The Department 
proposes to divide Item 60--Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets 
into Item 63--Purchase of Investments and Item 64--Purchase of Fixed 
Assets.
    The current Item 60 is supported by Schedule 4--Purchase of 
Investments and Fixed Assets. The Department proposes to divide the 
Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets schedule into two new 
schedules. On one schedule, proposed Schedule 5--Purchase of 
Investments, labor organizations would report disbursements for the 
purchase of investments. On another schedule, proposed Schedule 6--
Purchase of Fixed Assets, labor organizations would report 
disbursements for the purchase of fixed assets.
    Item 61--Loans Made. The Department proposes no substantive change 
to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 65--Loans Made. It 
would continue to be supported by Schedule 2-- Loans Receivable.
    Item 62--Repayment of Loans Obtained. The Department proposes no 
substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 
66-- Repayment of Loans Obtained. This item was previously supported by 
Schedule 9--Loans Payable and would now be supported by renumbered 
Schedule 11--Loans Payable, without substantive change.
    Item 63--To Affiliates of Funds Collected on Their Behalf. The 
Department proposes no substantive change to this item. This item would 
be renumbered Item 67--To Affiliates of Funds Collected on Their 
Behalf.
    Item 64--On Behalf of Individual Members. The Department proposes 
no substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 
68--On Behalf of Individual Members.
    Item 65--Direct Taxes. The Department proposes no substantive 
change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 69--Direct 
Taxes.
    Item 66--Subtotal. The Department proposes no substantive change to 
this item. This item would be renumbered Item 72--Subtotal.
    Item 67--Withholding Taxes and Payroll Deductions. The Department 
proposes no substantive change to this item. This item would be 
renumbered Item 73--Withholding Taxes and Payroll Deductions.

[[Page 64738]]

    Item 67a--Total Withheld. The Department proposes no substantive 
change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 73a--Total 
Withheld.
    Item 67b--Less Total Disbursed. The Department proposes no 
substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 
73b--Less Total Disbursed.
    Item 67c--Total Withheld But Not Disbursed. The Department proposes 
no substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 
73c--Total Withheld But Not Disbursed.
    Item 68--Total Disbursements. The Department proposes no 
substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 
74--Total Disbursements.
    Item 69--Additional Information. The Department proposes no 
substantive change to this item. This item would be renumbered Item 
75--Additional Information.
    Item 70--Signed. The Department proposes no substantive change to 
this item, which requires the signature of the union president or 
equivalent officer. This item would be renumbered Item 76--Signed.
    Item 71--Signed. The Department proposes no substantive change to 
this item, which requires the signature of the union treasurer or 
equivalent officer. This item would be renumbered Item 77--Signed.
    Schedule 1--Accounts Receivable Aging Schedule. The Department 
proposes no substantive change to this schedule. Under this schedule, a 
labor organization must report (1) all accounts with an entity or 
individual that aggregate to a value of $5,000 or more and that are 90 
days or more past due at the end of the reporting period or were 
liquidated, reduced, or written off during the reporting period and (2) 
the total aggregated value of all other accounts receivable. The 
Department proposes to reduce the burden by raising the threshold to 
$7,500. Accounts below this threshold need not be individually 
reported.
    Schedule 2--Loans Receivable. The Department proposes no 
substantive change to this schedule.
    Schedule 3--Sale of Investments and Fixed Assets. Under this 
schedule, currently, a labor organization must report details of the 
sale or redemption of U.S. Treasury securities, marketable securities, 
other investments, and fixed assets, including those fixed assets that 
were expensed. The assets and the investments are totaled and the 
result is entered in Item 43.
    As discussed above, under this proposed rule, Item 43 would be 
renamed Item 43--Sale of Investments. A new Item 44--Sale of Fixed 
Assets would be established.
    The current Schedule 3--Sale of Investments and Fixed Assets does 
not allow the user to easily distinguish between investments and assets 
and does not allow the Department to electronically compare beginning-
of-year investments, add purchases, and subtract sales, to determine 
end-of-year investments. The schedule does not include adequate 
information to determine whether a particular sale of an investment or 
asset was at fair market value and at arm's length.
    To address this lack of transparency, the Department proposes to 
divide this schedule into new Schedule 3--Sale of Investments and new 
Schedule 4--Sale of Fixed Assets.
    In the new Schedule 3--Sale of Investments, the Department proposes 
to add two new columns. The first new column, entitled ``Name and 
Address of Purchaser or Financial Management Firm (A),'' would disclose 
the purchasers of investments from the labor organization. A second 
column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the sale. The other 
columns (Description (if land or buildings, give location); Cost; Book 
Value; Gross Sales Price; and Amount Received) would remain the same 
but would be designated with different letters, to accommodate the two 
new columns. The columns would thus read: ``Name and Address of 
Purchaser or Financial Management Firm (A); Description (B); Date of 
Sale (C); Cost (D); Book Value (E); Gross Sales Price (F); and Amount 
Received (G).'' These additions would enable members to determine, in 
conjunction with other publicly-available information, that a sale was 
transacted at fair market value and at arm's length, thereby helping to 
prevent interested parties from unjustly enriching themselves by 
purchasing labor organization investments at below-market price.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ For investments sold over a registered exchange, no 
purchaser identity would be required. This exception is for bona 
fide market transactions over a registered securities exchange.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The book value of an asset is the value at which the investment or 
fixed asset is shown on the labor organization's books. The value of 
certain investments such as stocks can vary greatly within the fiscal 
year. Because the date of sale is not listed on the current Form LM-2, 
it cannot be determined whether the labor organization received fair 
market value on the sale transaction.
    The stock on the day of the sale may have been worth more than its 
book value. In this scenario, it is impossible to determine whether the 
stocks were sold by the labor organization at market value. The labor 
organization's financial report filed on the current Form LM-2 would 
show this transaction as a profit for the labor organization, but the 
transaction could also have in fact been less favorable to the labor 
organization if the investment was sold at a price below current market 
value. The proposed changes would also help ensure disclosure of any 
potential conflicts of interest between the purchaser and the labor 
organization. The schedule would total all individually itemized 
transactions and would provide the sum of the sales by itemized 
individual purchasers and the sum of all non-itemized sales of 
investments, as well as the total of all sales.
    The second of the two divided schedules would be the new Schedule 
4--Sale of Fixed Assets.
    As in the case of new Schedule 3, the Department proposes to add 
two new columns to Schedule 4--Sale of Fixed Assets. The first new 
column entitled ``Name and Address of Purchaser (A)'' would disclose 
the purchasers of fixed assets from the labor organization. A second 
column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the sale. The other 
columns (Description (if land or buildings, give location); Cost; Book 
Value; Gross Sales Price; and Amount Received) would remain the same 
but would be designated with different letters, to accommodate the two 
new columns. The columns would thus read ``Name and Address of 
Purchaser (A); Description (if land or buildings, give location) (B); 
Date of Sale (C); Cost (D); Book Value (E); Gross Sales Price (F); and 
Amount Received (G).'' These additions would provide members with 
information necessary to determine that the sale was transacted at fair 
market value and at arm's length, thereby helping prevent interested 
parties from unjustly enriching themselves by purchasing labor 
organization assets at below-market price.
    With regard to fixed assets, the Department proposes that the union 
be required to identify automobiles individually by make, model, year, 
and Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). This information would be 
listed under existing Column A (Description). This would allow the 
union members and the Department to know, when considered in light of 
other publicly-available information, if the sale of these assets is 
consistent with fair market value.
    In reports filed, there is often ambiguity as to the asset itself 
and the terms of its sale. For instance, one labor organization in its 
latest Form LM-2

[[Page 64739]]

reported that it had sold ``automobiles'' for $14,700. The (unknown 
number of) automobiles had a cost of $85,996 and a book value of 
$76,397. Another labor organization sold an automobile with a cost of 
$62,645 and a book value of $43,850 for $14,000. In these situations, 
it cannot be determined whether the labor organization received fair 
market value for the items that it sold, whether an insider benefited 
from these transactions, or whether the union's officials are properly 
managing the labor organization's finances.
    Schedule 4--Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets. Under this 
schedule, a labor organization currently must report details of the 
purchases by the labor organization of U.S. Treasury securities, 
marketable securities, other investments, and fixed assets, including 
those fixed assets that were expensed.
    The Department proposes to divide this schedule into new Schedule 
5--Purchase of Investments and new Schedule 6--Purchase of Fixed 
Assets.
    The current Schedule 4--Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets 
does not allow the user to easily distinguish between investments and 
assets and does not allow the Department to electronically compare 
beginning-of-year investments, add purchases and subtract sales, to 
determine end-of-year investments. The schedule does not provide labor 
organization members with adequate information to enable them to 
determine whether a particular purchase of an investment or asset was 
transacted at fair market value and at arm's length. As with sales of 
investments and fixed assets, the Department proposes to break this 
schedule into two: Schedule 5--Purchase of Investments and Schedule 6--
Purchase of Fixed Assets.
    In the new Schedule 5--Purchase of Investments, the Department 
proposes to add two new columns. The first new column entitled ``Name 
and Address of Seller or Financial Management Firm (A)'' would disclose 
the identity of the seller of investments to the labor organization. A 
second new column would disclose the date of the purchase. The column 
titled: (Description (if land or buildings, give location) would be 
changed to ``Description.'' The remaining columns (Cost; Book Value; 
Gross Sales Price; and Cash Paid) would remain the same but would be 
designated with different letters, to accommodate the two new columns.
    Likewise, to new Schedule 6--Purchase of Fixed Assets, the 
Department proposes to add two new columns. The first new column 
entitled ``Name and Address of Seller (A)'' would disclose the identity 
of the seller of investments to the labor organization. A second new 
column would disclose the date of the purchase. The other columns 
(Description (if land or buildings, give location)); Cost; Book Value; 
Gross Sales Price; and Amount Received) would remain the same but would 
be designated with different letters, to accommodate the two new 
columns.
    These changes would provide information that, coupled with 
publicly-available information, can be used to determine that all such 
purchases were transacted at fair market value and at arm's length, 
thereby helping to prevent parties from unjustly enriching themselves 
by selling investments to a labor organization at above-market price. 
The Department's review of data filed on the current Form LM-2 has 
demonstrated that the current form does not provide labor organization 
members with a clear understanding of the entities that are receiving, 
in some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars of the labor 
organization members' money. For instance, one labor organization 
listed on one line of its report disbursements of $259,173,494, another 
labor organization reported disbursements of $94,353,190, and another 
labor organization reported disbursements of $90,037,862. These reports 
provide only a description of the asset or investment, its cost, book 
value, and cash paid. None of the reports, however, disclosed the 
identity of the parties that sold these assets to these labor 
organizations. As a result, the members of these labor organizations 
are not in a position to know whether these sums of money were well-
spent. The proposed changes help ensure the disclosure of any potential 
conflicts of interest between the seller and the labor organization.
    The schedules would total all individually itemized transactions 
and would provide the sum of the purchases from itemized individual 
sellers and the sum of all other purchases of investments and fixed 
assets as well as the total of all purchases. This would allow the 
union members and the Department to know if purchase of these assets is 
consistent with fair market value.
    Schedule 5--Investments. The Department proposes no substantive 
change to this schedule. The schedule would be renumbered to Schedule 
7--Investments.
    Schedule 6--Fixed Assets. The Department proposes no substantive 
change to this schedule. The schedule would be renumbered to Schedule 
8--Fixed Assets.
    Schedule 7--Other Assets. The Department proposes no substantive 
change to this schedule. The schedule would be renumbered to Schedule 
9--Other Assets.
    Schedule 8--Accounts Payable Aging Schedule. The Department 
proposes no substantive change to this schedule. The schedule would be 
renumbered to Schedule 10--Accounts Payable Aging Schedule. Under this 
schedule, currently, the labor organization must report (1) individual 
accounts that are valued at $5,000 or more and that are 90 days or more 
past due or were liquidated, reduced, or written off during the 
reporting period; and (2) the total aggregated value of all other 
accounts. The Department proposes to reduce the burden by raising the 
threshold to $7,500. Accounts below this threshold need not be 
individually reported. This change would decrease the burden on the 
filing party.
    Schedule 9--Loans Payable. The Department proposes no substantive 
change to this schedule. The Department proposes to renumber this 
schedule to Schedule 11--Loans Payable.
    Schedule 10--Other Liabilities. The Department proposes no 
substantive change to Schedule 10. The Department proposes to renumber 
this schedule to Schedule 12--Other Liabilities.
    Schedule 11--All Officers and Disbursements to Officers. Under this 
schedule, the labor organization currently must list all the labor 
organization's officers and report all salaries and other direct and 
indirect disbursements to officers during the reporting period. The 
filer must also report the percentage of time spent by each officer in 
the functional categories provided, e.g., ``representational 
activities,'' ``union administration,'' etc.
    The Department proposes to renumber this schedule to Schedule 13--
All Officers and Disbursements to Officers.
    The Department proposes two revisions to this schedule. First, the 
Department proposes to eliminate functional reporting of union officer 
time. This would increase the readability of the form and reduce the 
burden on the regulated community. The Form LM-2 requires unions to 
report total disbursements in five functional categories and then 
itemize those disbursement if they reach a $5,000 threshold. Unions 
estimate the time spent by each union officer and employee on different 
duties, based on the categories of activities represented by the Form 
LM-2 schedules and reported as a percentage of work time, totaling 100 
percent. For example, a

[[Page 64740]]

union officer may report that 60 percent of her time went to 
``Representational Activities,'' 30 percent went to ``Union 
Administration,'' and 10 percent went to ``Political Activities and 
Lobbying.'' The Department proposes to eliminate the functional 
disbursement categories in the current Schedule 11, but will maintain 
the $5,000 threshold. Eliminating functional reporting for union 
officers would be accomplished by eliminating Line (I) from Schedule 
11--All Officers and Disbursements to Officers.
    When the Department imposed this requirement, ``[t]he Department 
believe[d] that requiring unions to report the estimated amount of time 
expended by their officers and employees will provide useful 
information to their members.'' 68 FR 58405. With the benefit of 
experience, the Department now understands that functional reporting of 
this sort provides the agency little value with respect to enforcing 
and administering the LMRDA, as the canvassing of the investigators 
revealed. The Department did not foresee that the data would be 
difficult to audit.
    By removing officer and employee functional reporting, total 
disbursements to officers and employees would not show on Statement B. 
To address this, the Department proposes to add two new items, in which 
these sums would be reported. Item 70--Officers. This item will report 
on one line the total disbursed to officers. The software will 
automatically enter into this item the total from Schedule 13--All 
Officers and Disbursements to Officers. Previously the total from 
Schedule 13 was divided among the functional disbursements categories 
in proportion to the percentage of time reported to have been spent on 
those categories.
    Item 71--Employees. This item will report on one line the total 
disbursed to employees. The software will automatically enter into this 
item the total from Schedule 14--Disbursements to Employees. Previously 
the total from Schedule 14 was divided among the functional 
disbursements categories in proportion to the percentage of time 
reported to have been spent on those categories.
    Second, the Department proposes to eliminate the reporting 
exception for indirect disbursements for travel-related expenses when 
payment is made by the labor organization directly to the provider or 
through a credit arrangement. For example, when a union, through its 
credit arrangements, is billed directly and pays the airline bills of 
an officer, the union currently does not have to include this amount as 
part of the disbursements made to the particular officer. See current 
Form LM-2 Instructions at p. 18. Eliminating this exception would 
provide a more accurate picture of total disbursements received by 
labor organization officers and employees.
    More specifically, a labor organization does not need to report a 
certain type of disbursement in current Schedule 11--All Officers and 
Disbursements to Officers. To be specific, a labor organization does 
not need to report ``[i]ndirect disbursements for temporary lodging 
(room rent charges only) or transportation by public carrier necessary 
for conducting official business while the officer is in travel status 
away from his or her home and principal place of employment with the 
labor organization if payment is made by the labor organization 
directly to the provider or through a credit arrangement.'' Current 
Form LM-2 Instructions at p. 18.
    A ``direct disbursement'' to an officer is a payment made by the 
labor organization to the officer in the form of cash, property, goods, 
services, or other things of value. An ``indirect disbursement'' to an 
officer is a payment made by the labor organization to another party 
for cash, property, goods, services, or other things of value received 
by or on behalf of the officer. Such payments include those made 
through a credit arrangement under which charges are made to the 
account of the labor organization and are paid by the labor 
organization.
    The distinction between reporting of direct and indirect 
disbursements has existed for more than 40 years. The distinction, 
which was not in the first set of Form LM-2 instructions, was 
established because of the difficulties then faced by unions in 
reconstructing documentation for certain payments for their prior 
fiscal year. Because of this difficulty, organizations were allowed to 
report such disbursements as functional expenses of the organization 
rather than as disbursements to particular officials. This distinction 
remained in the instructions and was not revisited by the Department 
despite changes in data reporting and record retention methods over the 
intervening decades that substantially reduced the burden of tracking 
and reporting disbursements. This issue was not addressed in the 2002-
2003 rulemaking. In the 2009 rulemaking, this exception was eliminated. 
See 74 FR 3678, 3687. The Department proposes to again eliminate this 
distinction.
    That payment for an official's travel and lodging expenses is made 
by credit card does not reduce the significance of the expense to a 
labor organization member, yet the current Form LM-2 treats the method 
of payment as significant. Travel and lodging expenses for a particular 
officer may raise questions among the membership for various reasons. 
The choice of transportation by public carrier (airplane, train, or 
bus) and the level of accommodation (first-class or coach) may be 
significant to a member. Lodging choices may run from a motor inn to a 
five-star hotel.
    Where options are available, the officer's choice of accommodation 
may be significant to a member. However, the mode of payment now 
controls whether a labor organization member knows the full extent of 
disbursements made for a particular official of the labor organization. 
Although the specifics of the travel would not appear on the Form LM-2 
LF, members would have a better understanding of the total amount of 
disbursements made to or on behalf of a particular official. Through 
this more complete reporting, members of the labor organization would 
be better able to determine whether such disbursements warrant further 
scrutiny, including review of the underlying documentation maintained 
by the labor organization.
    Schedule 12--Disbursements to Employees. Under this schedule, a 
labor organization must report all direct and indirect disbursements to 
employees of the labor organization during the reporting period. The 
union must also report the percentage of time spent by each employee in 
provided categories. Disbursements to individuals other than officers 
who receive lost time payments are also included even if the labor 
organization does not otherwise consider them to be employees or does 
not make any other direct or indirect disbursements to them.
    The Department proposes to renumber this schedule to Schedule 14--
Disbursements to Employees. The proposed substantive changes to this 
schedule are identical to two of the changes to Schedule 11 for all 
officers and disbursements to officers, above, and the supporting 
reasons for the proposed changes are the same as described above for 
those changes. The Department, however, does not propose to obtain 
contact information for union employees.
    The Department proposes two revisions to this schedule. First, the 
Department proposes to eliminate functional reporting of union-employee 
time. This would increase the readability of the form and reduce burden 
on the regulated community.

[[Page 64741]]

Second, the Department proposes to eliminate a currently available 
reporting exception. This exception is for indirect disbursements for 
temporary lodging or public transportation necessary for conducting 
official business while the employee is in travel status when payment 
is made by the labor organization directly to the provider or through a 
credit arrangement. See current Form LM-2 Instructions at p.18. This 
would provide a more accurate picture of total compensation received by 
labor organization employees.
    Schedule 13--Membership Status. On Schedule 13, a union currently 
must report in Column (A) the categories of membership tracked by the 
reporting labor organization. The union must define each category of 
membership in Item 69 (Additional Information). The union should 
include a description of the members covered by the category and 
indicate whether the members pay full dues. In Column (B), the labor 
organization must enter the number of members for each of the 
membership categories listed in column (A).
    The Department proposes to renumber Schedule 13--Membership Status 
to Schedule 15-- Membership Status. The union would define each 
category of membership in renumbered Item 75 (Additional Information).
    The Department also proposes to require reporting of retired 
members. Retired members do not necessarily share the same interests 
nor have the same voting rights as working members. Separately 
identifying this membership status would aid the members in 
understanding the composition of their union and assist the Department 
when supervising elections.
    Detailed Summary Page: The current detailed summary page contains 
information from Schedule 14 through Schedule 19. The summary page 
provides members with a snapshot of the labor organization's 
activities. Members may then use this snapshot to determine whether 
further analysis of the individual itemized schedules is required. 
There is no burden associated with the summary page because the 
software would automatically enter the totals in the appropriate lines 
of the summary schedules as the labor organization fills out the 
individual itemization schedules.
    The proposed detailed summary pages will reflect the order and the 
contents of the schedules they summarize. The first set of detailed 
summary pages reflect receipts and will consist of Schedule 16--Dues 
and Agency Fees (Item 36); Schedule 17--Per Capita Tax (Item 37); 
Schedule 18--Fees, Fines, Assessments, Work Permits (Item 38); Schedule 
19--Sales of Supplies (Item 39); Schedule 20--Rents (Item 42); Schedule 
21--On Behalf of Affiliates for Transmittal to Them (Item 47); Schedule 
22--From Members for Disbursement on Their Behalf (Item 48); and 
Schedule 23--Other Receipts (Item 49).
    The second set of detailed summary pages reflect disbursements and 
will consist of Schedule 24--Contract Administration and Negotiation 
(Item 51); Schedule 25--Organizing (Item 52); Schedule 26--Political 
Activities (Item 53); Schedule 27--Lobbying (Item 54); Schedule 28-- 
Contributions, Gifts, and Grants (Item 55); Schedule 29--General 
Overhead (Item 56); and Schedule 30--Union Administration (Item 57).
    Schedule 14--Other Receipts. The Department proposes to renumber 
this schedule to schedule 23--Other Receipts, with no substantive 
change.
    Schedule 15--Representational Activities. As discussed above, the 
Department proposes to divide Schedule 15--Representational Activities 
into two schedules: Schedule 24--Contract Negotiation and 
Administration and Schedule 25--Organizing.
    Under current Schedule 15--Representational Activities, a labor 
organization must report its direct and indirect disbursements to all 
entities and individuals during the reporting period associated with 
preparation for, and participation in, the negotiation of collective 
bargaining agreements and the administration and enforcement of the 
agreements made by the labor organization. The union must also report 
disbursements associated with efforts to become the exclusive 
bargaining representative for any unit of employees, or to keep from 
losing a unit in a decertification election or to another labor 
organization, or to recruit new members.
    The Department proposed in 2002 the use of two schedules, one for 
contract negotiation and administration and one for organizing. See 67 
FR 79280, 79288 (2002). Specifically, the NPRM proposed a Schedule 15 
(Contract Negotiation and Administration) and a separate Schedule 16 
(Organizing).
    The 2002 proposed schedule for contract negotiation and 
administration called for reporting of disbursements for preparation 
for, and participation in, the negotiation of collective bargaining 
agreements and the administration and enforcement of collective 
bargaining agreements, including the administration and arbitration of 
union member grievances.
    The 2002 proposed schedule for organizing required reporting of 
disbursements for activities in connection with becoming the exclusive 
bargaining representative for any unit of employees, or to keep from 
losing a unit in a decertification election or to another labor 
organization, or to recruit new members.
    Based on comments received from labor organizations and others, the 
Department decided in the 2003 final rule not to include the separate 
category for reporting organizing disbursements and to require that 
disbursements for organizing be reported in combination with contract 
negotiation and administration disbursements in a single Schedule 
entitled ``Representational Activities.''
    The Department consolidated the two schedules because it agreed 
with the commenters that organizing strategies deserve a level of 
protection. By combining the categories, the Department also met the 
concerns expressed by the building trades unions that they would be 
unable to allocate precise amounts to contract negotiations and 
organizing efforts. Specifically, several labor organizations, 
including the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL- 
CIO (BCTD), commented that it simply is not possible in the 
construction industry to separate disbursements made in connection with 
organizing efforts from disbursements made for contract negotiations 
and administration.\15\ In this regard, they referred to section 8(f) 
of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(f)). This section 
provides, inter alia, that it is not an unfair labor practice for a 
construction industry employer to enter into pre-hire collective 
bargaining agreements with a labor organization whose majority status 
has not previously been established and which agreement requires 
membership in the union as a condition of employment. In these ``top 
down'' bargaining situations, the BCTD explained, the terms and 
conditions of employment are negotiated and agreed upon before any 
employees express support for or actually become members of the union.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \15\ The BCTD is now known as NABTU, for the North America's 
Building Trades Union.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The BCTD and others expressed the view that it is not possible in 
these situations to separate disbursements into contract negotiations 
differentiated from organizing. Further complicating the situation for 
building trades unions, these unions assert, is the fact that often 
these same unions also engage in traditional ``bottom up'' organizing. 
For such purposes, these unions would have to separately allocate 
disbursements for

[[Page 64742]]

organizing and contract negotiations. Several commenters who supported 
the proposal to establish the organizing schedule argued that union 
members needed detailed information on their union's organizing 
activities to enable them to accurately assess their union's overall 
success or failure in its organizing efforts. The commenters argued 
that if separate allocations cannot be made in the pre-hire situation 
arising pursuant to section 8(f) of the NLRA, but separate allocations 
could be made for other traditional organizing efforts by the same 
union, a member would at best get an incomplete picture and at worst an 
inaccurate and misleading impression of the union's disbursements and 
overall effectiveness in organizing.
    The Department believes it should not have consolidated these two 
schedules. Organizing and contract negotiation and administration are 
discrete activities. Arguably, one is akin to sales to new customers 
and the other to service for existing ones. Contract negotiation and 
administration benefit directly the members at the organized worksite. 
Organizing may generally strengthen the union but its benefits to the 
organized members are attenuated. Union members would benefit from 
knowing how much in disbursements goes to organizing, as compared to 
how much goes to contract administration and negotiation. Reasonable 
minds might differ over which should be the union's priority: 
Organizing or contract negotiation and administration. But absent 
information as to what balance among the two the union is striking, 
debate becomes largely academic. By breaking out these two discrete 
activities into two discrete schedules, however, union members can 
better determine whether the priorities the union accords to each is 
consistent with the opinion of the members.
    Contrary to the Department's 2003 conclusion, consolidating into a 
single schedule may not be necessary to protect organizing. 
Specifically, labor unions currently disclose union organizing activity 
on the Form LM-2. Labor unions regularly report itemized disbursements 
on organizing activity on Schedule 14--Other Receipts, Schedule 15--
Representational Activities, and Schedule 18--General Overhead. Within 
these schedules, Column B requires labor unions to identify the type of 
business or job classification of the entity or individual to which the 
union disbursed $5,000 or more during the reporting period. In 
Schedules 14, 15, and 18, labor unions frequently report ``organizing 
services'' as the type of business or job classification to which the 
union disbursed funds. Organizing disbursements are already disclosed 
by reporting unions.
    Furthermore, in 2003 the Department implemented a special procedure 
for reporting confidential information on the Form LM-2, which, in 
part, was created to protect organizing efforts. When reporting 
confidential information labor organizations need not itemize the 
receipt or disbursement of certain expenditures that would be adverse 
to the union's legitimate interests. Labor unions may use the 
confidentiality exemption to avoid itemizing receipts or disbursements 
for the following information involving organizing: (1) Information 
that would identify individuals paid by the union to work in a non-
union bargaining unit in order to assist the union in organizing 
employees, provided that such individuals are not employees of the 
union who receive more than $10,000 in the aggregate in the reporting 
year from the union and (2) information that would expose the reporting 
union's prospective organizing strategy. The confidentiality exemption 
provides an additional layer of protection to labor unions from 
disclosing itemized disbursements that could be detrimental to the 
success of organizing efforts.
    In order to minimize any impact of reporting on the success of 
organizing efforts, however, neither the name of the employer nor the 
specific bargaining unit that is the subject of the organizing activity 
would need to be identified in the proposed schedule.
    The Department also believes that in 2003 it should have recognized 
that a pre-hire agreement is merely a unique form of a collective 
bargaining agreement. As with section 9(a) collective bargaining 
agreements, a pre-hire agreement is a contract that is the result of a 
negotiation between a union and employer, which establishes the terms 
and conditions of employment for bargaining unit employees.
    The principal difference between the two types of agreements is 
that an 8(f) pre-hire agreement permits collective bargaining activity 
prior to a union obtaining majority support from employees. In 
addition, an employee may be required to join the 8(f) union within 
seven days from the start of work.
    These distinct qualities of pre-hire agreements show there is 
minimal need for a labor union to disburse funds to recruit new members 
or become the exclusive bargaining representative by obtaining majority 
support of the employees--key characteristics of organizing expenses. 
Pre-hire agreements are agreed upon by unions and employers via the 
collective bargaining process, not the organizing efforts of a labor 
union.
    For the purposes of reporting disbursements on the Form LM-2 LF, 
the Department proposes that labor unions must consider the negotiation 
of 8(f) pre-hire agreements as collective bargaining activity.
    Schedule 16--Political Activities and Lobbying. As discussed above, 
the Department proposes to divide Schedule 16--Political Activities and 
Lobbying into two schedules: Schedule 26-- Political Activities and 
Schedule 27--Lobbying.
    Under current Schedule 16--Political Activities and Lobbying, the 
labor organization must report its direct and indirect disbursements to 
all entities and individuals during the reporting period associated 
with political disbursements or monetary contributions. A political 
disbursement or contribution is one that is intended to influence the 
selection, nomination, election, or appointment of anyone to a federal, 
state, or local executive, legislative, or judicial public office, or 
office in a political organization, or the election of presidential or 
vice presidential electors, and support for or opposition to ballot 
referenda. It does not matter whether the attempt succeeds. The labor 
organization must include disbursements for communications with members 
(or agency fee paying nonmembers) and their families for registration, 
get-out-the vote, and voter education campaigns; the expenses of 
establishing, administering, and soliciting contributions to union 
segregated political funds (or PACs); disbursements to political 
organizations as defined by the IRS in 26 U.S.C. 527; and other 
political disbursements.
    Political activities differ considerably from lobbying in terms of 
their purpose and their significance to union members. Political 
activities, in the form of campaign contributions, may be more likely 
to be subject to abuse because of the amount of money changing hands. 
It further stands to reason that there may be internal, and rank-and-
file, disagreements with union-backed political positions on 
candidates. Cf. Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31, 138 S. Ct. 2448, 2461 
(2018) (``Janus refused to join the Union because he opposes many of 
the policy positions that it advocates'' (internal punctuation 
omitted)). Combining lobbying with political activities masks the total 
spent on lobbying and the total spent on political activity and 
campaigning. If a union spends $1,000,000 on lobbying and political 
activities, the $1,000,000

[[Page 64743]]

could be perceived or characterized by the union as monies well spent 
on representing members. The union might not be able to make that 
argument, however, if it spent $50,000 on lobbying and $950,000 on 
political activity.
    Lobbying is more germane to the core function of a labor 
organization: improving working conditions. Members have the right to 
know how much of their dues monies are going to political activities 
and how much are going to lobbying. The current consolidated schedule 
obscures this information, to the detriment of interested union 
members.
    The 2002 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which introduced functional 
reporting categories, proposed to have separate schedules for political 
activities and lobbying. Upon review of the comments received, the 
Department instead combined the categories in its final rule. 68 FR 
58374, 58397 (2005). One reason for combining the two categories was a 
prediction that little money would otherwise be reported in each 
schedule: ``Further, the Department's decision to combine the two 
Schedules will increase the likelihood that the Schedule will be used 
to report a sufficient amount of information to prove useful to union 
members.'' Id. at 58398. This prediction proved untrue. The total 
amount of disbursements reported in Schedule 16--Political Activities 
and Lobbying for all FY16 filers was $741,357,982. For FY17, the total 
was $628,643,192. For FY18, the figure was $747,169,805. In a review of 
20 major unions, several unions reported spending more on political 
activities and lobbying than on union administration. These 20 unions 
spent $218,205,729 on political activities and lobbying, while spending 
$155,815,458 on contributions, gifts, and grants, and $281,824,428 on 
union administration. One union reported spending more on political 
activities and lobbying, $17,764,359, than on representational 
activities, $3,791.442. All told, 9.7 percent of the spending on the 
five functional categories (Representational Activities; Political 
Activities and Lobbying; Contributions, Gifts, and Grants; General 
Overhead, and Union Administration) of these 20 unions was spent on 
political activities and lobbying. There are strong indications, 
therefore, that substantial sums are disbursed for political activities 
and for lobbying.
    The 2003 final rule also chose to consolidate into a single 
schedule the two activities because requiring the separate reporting of 
``political activity'' and ``lobbying'' is made difficult by the 
requirement that time estimates of union officials be recorded in 10 
percent increments of total work time. 68 FR 58398.This objection is no 
longer well-founded because the Department proposes to eliminate 
functional reporting of union officer and union employee time.
    The Department based its previous decision to consolidate the 
schedule on the perception that distinguishing between ``political 
activities,'' in the election-specific sense of that term, and 
``lobbying'' is ``not always easy.'' 68 FR 58398. The Department still 
agrees with this sentiment, but now posits that it cuts in favor of 
dividing the schedules. Having reviewed the ``purpose'' line of 
numerous reports over the years, the Department has found that the 
purpose and nature of the disbursement are often not discernable. A 
union member's inability to determine the purpose of an expenditure and 
whether an expenditure is lobbying or political activity is a failure 
of transparency that this proposed rule would address. As between the 
union and its members, the union is in a better position to know and 
disclose the nature of the disbursement. Additionally, separate regimes 
exist for reporting political activities versus lobbying activities at 
both the state and federal level showing that these categories are in 
fact distinct and could be separated for reporting purposes.\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \16\ A 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization is subject to 
restrictions on lobbying and political activities. 26 U.S.C. 
501(c)(3). Engaging in any political activities may result in 
revocation of tax-exempt status, and imposition of certain excise 
taxes. Lobbying may not represent a ``substantial part'' of the 
activities of an organization exempt under Section 501(c)(3). Under 
the substantial part test, codified in part in Section 1.501(c)(3)-
1(c)(3)(ii) of the Treasury Regulations, an organization's tax-
exempt status will not be at risk because of lobbying unless it 
exceeds the ``substantial part'' limitation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Federal law treats lobbying as a discrete activity. At the federal 
level, the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) imposes registration and 
reporting obligations on individuals and entities that lobby various 
federal officials once certain thresholds have been exceeded. 2 U.S.C. 
1601 et seq. The LDA applies to any entity that lobbies, whether 
501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), union or for-profit. The term ``lobbying 
activities'' means lobbying contacts and efforts in support of such 
contacts, including preparation and planning activities, research, and 
other background work that is intended, at the time it is performed, 
for use in contacts, and coordination with the lobbying activities of 
others. 2 U.S.C. 1602(7). The term ``lobbying contact'' means any oral 
or written communication (including an electronic communication) to a 
covered executive branch official or a covered legislative branch 
official that is made on behalf of a client with regard to--(i) the 
formulation, modification, or adoption of federal legislation 
(including legislative proposals); (ii) the formulation, modification, 
or adoption of a federal rule, regulation, Executive Order, or any 
other program, policy, or position of the United States Government; 
(iii) the administration or execution of a federal program or policy 
(including the negotiation, award, or administration of a federal 
contract, grant, loan, permit, or license); or (iv) the nomination or 
confirmation of a person for a position subject to confirmation by the 
Senate. 2 U.S.C. 1602(8). As labor organizations already must 
separately report lobbying activities under the LDA, they should be 
able to separate out this activity from other activities, like 
political activities.
    Schedule 17--Contributions, Gifts, and Grants. The schedule would 
be renumbered to Schedule 28--Contributions, Gifts, and Grants, with no 
substantive changes.
    Schedule 18--General Overhead. The schedule would be renumbered to 
Schedule 29-- General Overhead, with no substantive changes.
    Schedule 19--Union Administration. The schedule would be renumbered 
to Schedule 30-- Union Administration, with no substantive changes.
    Schedule 20--Benefits. The schedule would be renumbered to Schedule 
31--Benefits. The schedule would no longer contain benefits information 
for union officers and union employees, as this information would 
appear next to their names, as discussed above, in proposed Schedule 
11--All Officers and Disbursements to Officers and proposed Schedule 
12--Disbursements to Employees.
    New Schedules. The Department proposes to add new schedules that 
coincide with the items of cash receipts listed on Statement B--
Receipts and Disbursements. These schedules represent new requirements 
that labor organizations itemize the individual categories of receipts 
aggregated to $5,000 from any one source. The labor organization would 
be required to complete a separate itemization schedule for each 
individual or entity from which the labor organization has received 
$5,000 or more. Each transaction from that individual or entity would 
be accompanied by information about the individual, the purpose of the 
payment, the date of the payment, and the amount of the payment. The 
total amount received from the individual or entity, both itemized and 
non-itemized, would be

[[Page 64744]]

included at the bottom of the itemized schedule. The totals from each 
itemized schedule would then be added together and that number would be 
entered in the appropriate item on Statement B.
    These proposed additional schedules correspond to the following 
categories of receipts:
     Dues and Agency Fees (Item 36);
     Per Capita Tax (Item 37);
     Fees, Fines, Assessments, Work Permits (Item 38);
     Sales of Supplies (Item 39);
     Rents (Item 42);
     On Behalf of Affiliates for Transmittal to Them (Item 47); 
and
     From Members for Disbursement on Their Behalf (Item 48).
    These schedules will provide additional information, by these 
receipt categories, of aggregated receipts of $5,000 or more. This 
proposed change is consistent with the information currently provided 
on disbursements.
    Currently, Form LM-2 filers report on Statement B only the total 
amount received from dues and agency fees; per capita taxes; fees, 
fines, assessments, work permits; sales of supplies; interest; 
dividends; rents; receipts on behalf of affiliates for transmittal to 
them; and receipts from members for disbursement on their behalf. In 
some instances, these line items exceed $30 million. For example, one 
labor organization stated that it received over $298 million in per 
capita taxes and another received over $33 million in rent. Little 
useful information can be discerned from these totals alone. The new 
Form LM-2 LF would require itemization of certain of these categories 
from the largest unions.
    The lack of itemization of most receipts on the current Form LM-2 
makes it easier for wrongdoers to embezzle money from labor 
organization accounts. In one case, an eight-count felony indictment 
charged a union treasurer with taking the union's dues checks from the 
employer of the union members. Instead of depositing the checks into 
the union's bank account, the union treasurer endorsed the checks and 
deposited them into his own personal bank account under false 
pretenses. According to the indictment, the combined value of the 
property stolen amounted to $18,720. Even if the individual checks had 
been in amounts of $5,000 or more, however, rank and file members would 
have been unable to detect the conversion because the current Form LM-2 
requires the disclosure of only the yearly total received in dues 
checks, not the reporting of individual checks received from employers. 
The proposed form would contain itemized information for each check 
that is $5,000 or more and disclose whether other checks aggregate to 
$5,000 or more. If receipt checks, either alone or in combination, 
aggregate to $5,000 or more, the labor organization would disclose this 
on the form. The change would address this problem, which extends to 
all the various reporting categories on the current form and not merely 
the receipt of dues payments, because now receipts-side embezzlements 
would be harder to hide.
    By providing itemization of receipts, labor organizations would 
better disclose to their members and the public a full accounting of 
all funds received and the identity of individuals and entities with 
whom the labor organization does business. The Department could use 
this information to determine the purpose of any receipt from one 
source in an amount of $5,000 or more. Knowing the purpose of a receipt 
would help identify possible diversion. Labor organization members 
could ensure that money they paid to the organization for disbursements 
on their behalf is accounted for on the Form LM-2 LF. If there is no 
itemized receipt in new Schedule 22--From Members for Disbursement on 
their Behalf for payments of $5,000 or more or the receipt is less than 
expected, then the member would know that the money was not properly 
reported and may pursue other avenues to determine what has happened to 
the funds. The new Schedules 16 through 22 would be as follows:
    Schedule 16--Dues and Agency Fees (new schedule);
    Schedule 17--Per Capita Tax (new schedule);
    Schedule 18--Fees, Fines, Assessments, and Work Permits (new 
schedule);
    Schedule 19--Sale of Supplies (new schedule);
    Schedule 20--Rents (new schedule);
    Schedule 21--Receipts on Behalf of Affiliates for Transmittal to 
Them (new schedule); and
    Schedule 22--Receipts from Members for Disbursement on Their Behalf 
(new schedule).
    Under the current Form LM-2, receipts listed under the above-listed 
categories on Statement B are not itemized on a separate schedule for 
aggregate amounts that meet or exceed the threshold. The only itemized 
receipts are ``Other Receipts.'' ``Other Receipts'' that meet or exceed 
the threshold are itemized on the current Schedule 14. Proposed 
Schedules 16 through 22 would include the same information that is 
currently required on Schedule 14 for ``Other Receipts.''
    New Schedule 32--Foreign Transactions. The Department seeks comment 
on whether to establish a Schedule 32--Foreign Transactions on the Form 
LM-2 LF if the labor union engages in a transaction with a foreign 
entity or a foreign individual. The labor organization would report any 
individual receipt of $5,000 or more, or total receipts from any single 
entity or individual that aggregate to $5,000 or more during the 
reporting period, derived from a foreign entity or individual. These 
transactions would also appear in the functional categories of 
Schedules 24 through 31 but this schedule would permit the union 
members to know whether the union is conducting transactions with 
foreign entities or individuals. It is a growing concern for many 
American workers to have their jobs outsourced overseas. Union members 
and prospective members have a right to know if their collective 
bargaining representative has an interest in a non-American workforce. 
In 2019 alone, one national union sent $931,830 to unions, law firms, 
and consultants at foreign addresses. Although the payees were 
identified by functional category, there is not one single location 
where a union member can find out whether the labor union is engaging 
in significant foreign transactions.\17\ The Department requests 
comments from interested parties in union transactions with foreign 
entities or individuals.
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    \17\ Form 990, Schedule F, is used by an organization that files 
Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax, to provide 
information on its activities conducted outside the United States by 
the organization at any time during the tax year. Activities 
conducted outside the United States include grants and other 
assistance, program-related investments, fundraising activities, 
unrelated trade or business, program services, investments, or 
maintaining offices, employees, or agents for the purpose of 
conducting any such activities in regions outside the United States. 
See Instructions for Form 990, Schedule F.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The confidentiality exemption. Additionally, the Department 
requests comments on whether to modify, narrow, or eliminate the 
confidentiality exception in the Form LM-2 instructions. Currently, the 
following information is subject to special reporting privileges under 
the confidentiality exception: (1) Information that would identify 
individuals paid by the union to work in a non-union facility in order 
to assist the union in organizing employees, provided that such 
individuals are not employees of the union who receive more than 
$10,000 in the aggregate from the union in the reporting year; (2) 
information that would expose the reporting union's prospective 
organizing

[[Page 64745]]

strategy; (3) information that would provide a tactical advantage to 
parties with whom the reporting union or an affiliated union is engaged 
or would be engaged in contract negotiations; (4) information pursuant 
to a settlement that is subject to a confidentiality agreement, or that 
the union is otherwise prohibited by law from disclosing; and (5) 
information in those situations where disclosure would endanger the 
health or safety of an individual. If the receipt or disbursement fits 
within one of the above broad categories, then the labor organization 
need not itemize the receipt or disbursement. Instead it may include 
the receipt or disbursement in the aggregated total on Line 3 of 
Summary Schedules 23--Other Receipts, 24--Contract Negotiations and 
Administration, 25--Organizing, or 30--Union Administration, as 
appropriate.
    There are legitimate reasons why a union may wish to utilize these 
five categories. But the current broad confidentiality exception makes 
it impossible to ascertain from reviewing the form the actual purpose 
and payer/payee of many receipts and disbursements. For example, one 
labor organization did not identify the name of the payee, date of 
disbursement, or the amount of the transaction for more than 46 percent 
of its disbursements. This labor organization reported $5,931,513 in 
disbursements on Schedule 15, Line 5 (All Other Disbursements). In Item 
69, the labor organization stated that it had excluded certain 
confidential information from Schedule 15, but included the information 
in the totals. This same labor organization's total disbursements were 
$12,811,076. On a related matter, the Department's review of Form LM-2 
filings has found that many major receipts and disbursements that do 
not qualify for the confidentiality exception, 68 FR 58499-500, are 
being included on Line 3 (total All Other Receipts) of Summary Schedule 
14--Other Receipts or on Line 5 (total All Other Disbursements) of 
Summary Schedules 15--Representational Activities or 19--Union 
Administration. Labor organizations are usually describing the general 
type of information that was omitted from the schedule in Item 69--
Additional Information, but the name of the payer/payee, date, and 
amount of the transaction(s) are not included. A member now can obtain 
specific information about these confidential transactions only by 
requesting such information directly from the labor organization.
    The Department seeks comment on whether all transactions greater 
than $5,000 should be identified by amount and date in the relevant 
schedules. If, on the other hand, a confidentiality exemption should be 
retained, the Department seeks comments on the scope of the exemption. 
Commenters can provide their views on whether the five current 
categories should be retained in their current form, modified, or 
eliminated.
    Employer Identification Number. The Department invites comment on 
whether to require the disclosure of the EIN for vendors that received 
payments that trigger itemized disclosure ($5,000 or more) on new 
schedules 24 through 30. This would require an additional column on 
these schedules and would give the Department and the members 
visibility into year-over-year payments to the same organizations. The 
use of ``Doing Business As'' designations and name changes would no 
longer hinder a member from determining the union's involvement with 
the same vendors year after year. It would allow a member to determine 
whether a vendor or payee is a business affiliated with a union 
officer, for example, because the business could be identified.
    Whistleblower Provisions. The Department seeks comment on whether 
to add an item asking, ``Does the Organization have a written 
whistleblower policy?'' to the informational items. Federal law 
prohibits tax exempt organizations from retaliating against employees 
who expose wrongdoing with regard to their employer's financial 
management and accounting practices. In Form 990, the IRS asks if the 
organization has written policies on the handling of whistleblowers. 
See Exempt Organizations Annual Reporting Requirements--Governance 
(Form 990, Part VI). Many states have also enacted laws to protect 
whistleblowers from retaliation at the workplace.\18\ Employers, 
including labor organizations, benefit from a process for addressing 
complaints, as it provides an opportunity for the union to improve its 
practices. Also, adopting a whistleblower protection policy signals to 
employees and to union members that the union values transparency and 
accountability. The Department generally invites comments on whether 
other good governance questions should be asked.
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    \18\ See e.g., Ala. Code Sec. Sec.  25-8-57, 36-26A-1 to -26A-7; 
Alaska Stat. Ann. Sec. Sec.  18.60.089, 18.60.095, 39.90.100-150; 
Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. Sec. Sec.  23-425, 38-531-534; Ark. Code Ann. 
Sec.  16-123-108; Cal. Lab. Code Sec.  1102.5-1106; Colo. Rev. Stat. 
Sec. Sec.  24-50.5-101 to -107, 24-114-101 to-103; Conn. Gen. Stat. 
Sec. Sec.  4-61dd(e), 31-51m; Del. Code Ann. Sec. Sec.  5115, 1701-
1708; Fla. Stat. Sec. Sec.  112.3187-.31895; Ga. Code Ann. Sec.  45-
1-4; Haw. Rev. Stat. Sec. Sec.  378-61 to -69; Idaho Code Ann. Sec.  
6-2101 to -2109; 20 Ill. Comp. Stat. 415/19c.1, 740 Ill. Comp. Stat. 
174/10-174/40; Ind. Code Sec. Sec.  4-15-10-4, 22-5-3-3, 36-1-8-8; 
Iowa Code Ann. Sec. Sec.  70A.28-.29; Kan. Stat. Ann. Sec.  75-2973; 
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. Sec. Sec.  61.101-.103, 338.121, 338.991; La. 
Rev. Stat. Sec. Sec.  30:2027, 42:1169; Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 26 
Sec. Sec.  831-840; Md. Code Ann. State Personnel and Pensions 
Sec. Sec.  5-301 to -314, State Finance and Procurement Sec.  11-301 
to -306; Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149 Sec.  185; Mich. Comp. Laws Sec.  
15.361-.369; Miss. Code Ann. Sec. Sec.  25-9-171 to -177; Mo. Rev. 
Stat. Sec.  105.055; Neb. Rev. Stat. Sec. Sec.  81-2701 to -2711, 
48-1114; Nev. Rev. Stat. Sec. Sec.  281.611-.671, 618.445; N.H. Rev. 
Stat. Ann. Sec. Sec.  98-E:1-4, 275-E:1-9; N.J. Stat. Ann. 
Sec. Sec.  34:19-1 to -14; N.M. Stat. Ann. Sec.  50- 9-25, 10-16C-1 
to -6; N.Y. Labor Law Sec. Sec.  740, 741, N.Y. Civ. Serv. Law Sec.  
75-b(2); N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. Sec.  126-84 to -88; N.D. Cent. Code 
Sec.  34-11.1-04; Ohio Rev. Code Sec. Sec.  124.341, 4113.52; Okla. 
Stat. tit. 74 Sec.  840-2.5; Or. Rev. Stat. Sec. Sec.  654.062, 
659A.199-.236; R.I. Gen. Laws Sec. Sec.  28-50-1 to -9; S.C. Code 
Ann. Sec. Sec.  8-27-10 to -60, 41-15-510 to -520; Tenn. Code Ann. 
Sec. Sec.  50-1-304, 50-3-106, 50-3-106, 8-50-116; Tex. Gov't Code 
Ann. Sec. Sec.  554.001-.010, Tex. Lab. Code Ann. Sec.  21.055; Utah 
Code Ann. Sec. Sec.  67-21-1 to -10; Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 3, 
Sec. Sec.  971-978, tit. 21, Sec.  231; Wash. Rev. Code Sec. Sec.  
42.40.010-.910, 49.60.210(2); W. Va. Code Sec.  6C-1-1 to -8, 21-3A-
13; Wis. Stat. Sec. Sec.  230.80-.89; Wyo. Stat. Ann. Sec. Sec.  9-
11-103, 27-11-109(e). See Robert J. Nobile, Human Resources Guide, 
Sec.  5:169 (selected state whistleblower statutes) (July 2020 
update).
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D. Proposed Revisions to Form LM-2

    To increase transparency, the Department proposes revisions to the 
Form LM-2, which would be applicable to labor organization with annual 
receipts of $250,000 to $7,999,999. Many of the changes and rationale 
mirror those of the Form LM-2 LF, described above. For brevity, the 
Department refers to those changes and rationales, and incorporates 
them by reference, rather than repeating them verbatim.\19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \19\ The Department notes below where variations between the 
proposed Form LM-2 LF and the proposed Form LM-2 exist.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On the Form LM-2, the Department proposes to add ``(d) 
TRUSTEESHIP'' with a checkbox to Item 3. The checkbox would indicate 
that the report is being filed by a labor organization for a 
subordinate labor organization that it has placed in trusteeship.
    With regard to Item 10--Trust or Other Fund, the Department 
proposes to redesignate the current Item 10 as Item 10(a).
    The Department also proposes a new Item 10(b), concerning payments 
from more than one union. Item 10(b) would ask whether, during the 
reporting period, an officer or employee who was paid $10,000 or more 
by the reporting organization also received $10,000 or more as an 
officer or employee of another labor organization in gross salary, 
allowances, and other direct and indirect disbursements during the 
reporting period. If the answer is ``Yes,'' the labor organization 
would provide

[[Page 64746]]

additional information in Item 75--Additional Information. This 
additional information would require the union to list the name of the 
officer, amount paid, entity that made the payment, and file number of 
the entity.
    The Department proposes to revise Item 13 (Losses or Shortages) to 
clarify that reporting is required if the filer is aware the labor 
organization has experienced and/or discovered a shortage of funds. 
Currently Item 13 asks, ``During the reporting period did the labor 
organization discover any loss or shortage of funds or other assets?'' 
As revised, Item 13 would provide, ``During the reporting period did 
the labor organization experience and/or discovered any loss or 
shortage of funds or other assets?''
    With regard to Item 18 (Changes in Constitution and Bylaws), the 
Department proposes to redesignate the current Item 18 as Item 18(a). 
The Department proposes a new Item 18(b). This item would require labor 
organizations to provide the dates of their constitution and bylaws.
Statement A--Assets and Liabilities
    Items 22 through 35 listed under Statement A--Assets and 
Liabilities will adopt the same schedules proposed in the LM-2 LF.
Statement B--Receipts and Disbursements
    With regard to Items 36 through 50 listed under ``Cash Receipts,'' 
the Department does not propose additional schedules to those items 
that currently do not have schedules. This will avoid imposing the 
burden of itemizing cash receipts on smaller unions, which have fewer 
resources to invest in tracking and reporting financial information. 
However, items with schedules will adopt the schedule numbers proposed 
in the LM-2 LF.
    The Department proposes to divide Item 43--Sale of Investments and 
Fixed Assets into two items. Item 43 would be renamed Item 43--Sale of 
Investments. Item 43 is currently supported by Schedule 3--Sale of 
Investments and Fixed Assets. It would be supported by a new Schedule 
3--Sale of Investments. The Department proposes a new Item 44--Sale of 
Fixed Assets, which would be supported by a new Schedule 4--Sale of 
Fixed Assets.
    On Schedule 3--Sale of Investments, labor organizations would 
report receipts from the sale of investments. On, Schedule 4--Sale of 
Fixed Assets, the labor organization would report receipts from the 
sale of fixed assets.
    In the new Schedule 3--Sale of Investments, the Department proposes 
to add two new columns. The first new column, entitled ``Name and 
Address of Purchaser or Financial Management Firm (A),'' would disclose 
the purchasers of investments from the labor organization. A second 
column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the sale. The other 
existing columns would remain the same but would be designated with 
different letters. The columns would thus read, in order, ``Name and 
Address of Purchaser or Financial Management Firm (A); Description (B); 
Date of Sale (C); Cost (D); Book Value (E); Gross Sales Price (F); and 
Amount Received (G).''
    The Department proposes to add two new columns to new Schedule 4--
Sale of Fixed Assets. The first new column entitled ``Name and Address 
of Purchaser (A)'' would disclose the purchasers of fixed assets from 
the labor organization. A second column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the 
date of the sale. The columns would thus read ``Name and Address of 
Purchaser (A); Description (if land or buildings, give location) (B); 
Date of Sale (C); Cost (D); Book Value (E); Gross Sales Price (F); and 
Amount Received (G).'' With regard to fixed assets, the Department 
proposes that the union would be required to identify automobiles 
individually by make, model, year, and Vehicle Identification Number 
(VIN). This information would be listed under existing Column A 
(Description).
    Proposed Items 51 through 72 listed under ``Cash Disbursements'' 
will adopt the same schedules proposed in the LM-2 LF, except where 
indicated below.
    The Department proposes to divide Item 50--Representational 
Activities into two items. Item 50 would be renumbered Item 51 and 
renamed Item 51--Contract Negotiation and Administration. There would 
be a new Item 52--Organizing. The schedule, currently numbered Schedule 
15, would be split in two and renumbered Schedule 17 and Schedule 18. 
The first would be designated Schedule 17--Contract Negotiation and 
Administration. The second would be Schedule 18--Organizing.
    The Department proposes to divide Item 51--Political Activities and 
Lobbying into two items. Item 51 would be renumbered Item 53 and 
renamed Item 53--Political Activities. There would be a new Item 54--
Lobbying. Current Schedule 16--Political Activities and Lobbying would 
be split. It would be replaced by a new Schedule 19--Political 
Activities and a new Schedule 20--Lobbying. On Schedule 19, labor 
organizations would report disbursements for political activities. On 
Schedule 20, the labor organization would report lobbying 
disbursements.
    The Department proposes no substantive change to Item 52, which 
would be renumbered Item 55--Contributions, Gifts, and Grants. This 
item was previously supported by Schedule 17 and would now be supported 
by renumbered Schedule 21--Contributions, Gifts, and Grants, without 
substantive change.
    The Department proposes no substantive change to Item 53, which 
would be renumbered Item 56--General Overhead. This item was previously 
supported by Schedule 18 and would now be supported by renumbered 
Scheduled 22--General Overhead, without substantive change.
    The Department proposes no substantive change to Item 54, which 
would be renumbered Item 57--Union Administration. This item was 
previously supported by Schedule 19 and would now be supported by 
renumbered Schedule 23--Union Administration, without substantive 
change.
    Item 55 would be renumbered Item 58--Benefits, and not 
substantively changed. This item was previously supported by Schedule 
20 and would now be supported by renumbered Schedule 24--Benefits, 
without substantive change.
    The Department proposes to divide Item 60--Purchase of Investments 
and Fixed Assets into two items: Item 63--Purchase of Investments and 
Item 64--Purchase of Fixed Assets. The Department proposes to divide 
Schedule 4--Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets into two. The 
first would be a new Schedule 5--Purchase of Investments. The second 
would be a new Schedule 6--Purchase of Fixed Assets.
    The Department proposes to add two new columns to new Schedule 5--
Purchase of Investments. The first new column entitled ``Name and 
Address of Seller or Financial Management Firm (A)'' would disclose the 
identity of the seller of investments to the labor organization. A 
second column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the purchase. The 
other columns ((Cost (B); Book Value (C); Gross Sales Price (D); and 
Amount Received (E)) would remain the same but would be designated with 
different letters, to accommodate the two new columns. The columns 
would thus read ``Name and Address of seller or Financial Management 
Firm (A); Description (B); Date of Purchase (C); Cost (D); Book Value 
(E); Gross Sales Price (F); Cash Paid (G).''

[[Page 64747]]

    The Department proposes to add two new columns to Schedule 6--
Purchase of Fixed Assets. The first new column entitled ``Name and 
Address of Purchaser (A)'' would disclose the identity of the seller of 
investments to the labor organization. A second column ``Date (C)'' 
would disclose the date of the purchase. The columns would thus read 
``Name and Address of Seller (A); Description (if land or buildings, 
give location) (B); Date of Purchase (C); Cost (D); Book Value (E); 
Gross Sales Price (F); and Amount Received (G).'' The Department 
proposes that the union would be required to identify automobiles 
individually by make, model, year, and Vehicle Identification Number 
(VIN). This information would be listed under existing Column A 
(Description).
    Schedule 11--All Officers and Disbursements to Officers would be 
renumbered Schedule 13-- All Officers and Disbursements to Officers. In 
this schedule, the Department proposes to eliminate functional 
reporting of union officer time by removing Line (I).
    Schedule 12--Disbursements to Employees will be renumbered Schedule 
14--Disbursements to Employees. The Department proposes to eliminate 
functional reporting of union employee time by removing Line (I).
    The Department also proposes to renumber Schedule 13--Membership 
Status to Schedule 15--Membership Status. The Department proposes to 
require reporting of retired members.
    The confidentiality exemption. Similar to the discussion above, in 
section C. Proposed Form LM-2 LF the Department requests comments on 
whether modify, narrow, or eliminate the confidentiality exemption in 
the Form LM-2 instructions. The Department seeks comment on whether all 
transactions greater than $5,000 should be identified by amount and 
date in the relevant schedules. If, on the other hand, a 
confidentiality exemption should be retained, the Department seeks 
comments on the scope of the exemption. Commenters can provide their 
views on whether the five current categories should be retained in 
their current form, modified, or eliminated.
    Filing Threshold. The Department seeks comment on whether to raise 
the threshold for filing the Form LM-2 from its current $250,000 level. 
Shortly after the LMRDA was enacted in 1959, the threshold for filing 
the Form LM-2 was set by the Secretary at $20,000. The threshold was 
raised by the Secretary in 1962 to $30,000 and again in 1981 to 
$100,000. It was set at $250,000 by regulation in 2003. If any of these 
levels were now adjusted for inflation, the amount would be greater 
than the current threshold of $250,000. The Department seeks comment on 
whether to raise the threshold to $300,000. Although the overwhelming 
majority (78.5%) of all reporting labor organizations are currently 
exempt from filing Form LM-2, changing the threshold to $300,000 would 
reduce the recordkeeping and reporting burden for approximately 273 
labor organizations. Taking such action, would however, reduce the 
amount of information available to their 441,247 members.
    The Department will continue its past practice of periodically 
assessing the appropriateness of the filing threshold to ensure that it 
is relevant in terms of the current economy and universe of labor 
organizations. The Department invites comments on the proposal to raise 
the threshold for filing the Form LM-2 to $300,000.

E. Effective Date

    The Department proposes that its rule take effect 30 days after 
publication and apply prospectively to labor organizations' fiscal 
years beginning on or after the effective date of a final rule 
promulgated after this notice of proposed rulemaking.

IV. Regulatory Procedures

Executive Orders 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) and 13563 
(Improving Regulation and Review)

    Under Executive Order (E.O.) 12866, the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB)'s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) 
determines whether a regulatory action is significant and, therefore, 
subject to the requirements of the E.O. and OMB review.\20\ Section 
3(f) of E.O. 12866 defines a ``significant regulatory action'' as an 
action that is likely to result in a rule that (1) has an annual effect 
on the economy of $100 million or more, or adversely affects in a 
material way a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, 
the environment, public health or safety, or state, local, or tribal 
governments or communities (also referred to as economically 
significant); (2) creates serious inconsistency or otherwise interferes 
with an action taken or planned by another agency; (3) materially 
alters the budgetary impacts of entitlement grants, user fees, or loan 
programs, or the rights and obligations of recipients thereof; or (4) 
raises novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal mandates, the 
President's priorities, or the principles set forth in the E.O. OMB has 
determined that this rule is significant under section 3(f) of E.O. 
12866.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \20\ See 58 FR 51735 (October 4, 1993).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    E.O. 13563 directs agencies to propose or adopt a regulation only 
upon a reasoned determination that its benefits justify its costs; the 
regulation is tailored to impose the least burden on society, 
consistent with achieving the regulatory objectives; and in choosing 
among alternative regulatory approaches, the agency has selected those 
approaches that maximize net benefits. E.O. 13563 recognizes that some 
benefits are difficult to quantify and provides that, where appropriate 
and permitted by law, agencies may consider and discuss qualitatively 
values that are difficult or impossible to quantify, including equity, 
human dignity, fairness, and distributive impacts.
A. Background and Need for Regulatory Action
    Every labor organization subject to the LMRDA, the Civil Service 
Reform Act (CSRA) standards of conduct regulations, or the Foreign 
Service Act (FSA) must file a financial report, Forms LM-2, LM-3, or 
LM-4 Labor Organization Annual Report. The three forms vary in the 
level of financial details that must be reported. The filing 
requirements are determined by the total annual receipts of the union. 
The Forms LM-2, LM-3, and LM-4 Labor Organization Annual Report serve 
as the primary means by which the operations of unions can be monitored 
by union members and the general public. Accordingly, the Forms LM-2, 
LM-3, and LM-4 Labor Organization Annual Report are essential to the 
Department's enforcement, research, and policy formulation programs and 
are a source of information and data for use by other federal agencies, 
Congress, and the private sector in assessing union economic trends and 
policies.
    As discussed earlier in this preamble, the Forms were last revised 
in 2003. The revisions to the Form LM-2 made by the Department in 2003 
helped to fulfill the LMRDA's reporting mandate. However, based upon 
the Department's experience since 2003 and after input from OLMS field 
offices, the Department believes that further modifications to Form LM-
2 and the introduction of the Form LM-2 LF are necessary. The proposed 
enhancements, as more fully described elsewhere in this preamble, would 
ensure that information is reported in such a way as to meet the 
objectives of the LMRDA by providing labor organization members with 
useful data that will enable them to be responsible and effective 
participants in the democratic governance of their labor organizations. 
The proposed changes are

[[Page 64748]]

designed to provide the Department, members of labor organizations, and 
the public with additional and more detailed information about the 
financial activities of labor organizations than is available through 
the current reporting.
B. Costs of the Form LM-2 LF and LM-2 Reports for Labor Organizations
    As discussed below in the Paperwork Reduction Act section, the 
Forms LM-2 LF, and LM-2 reports will be filed by existing Forms LM-2 
report filing labor organizations. The Department estimates that it 
receives annually 4,850 Form LM-2 reports. The proposed rule would not 
add any new filing labor organizations to this universe, although the 
Department does expect to see a change in the number of Form LM-2 
reports received, with the addition of the Form LM-2 LF for those 
filers with total annual receipts of $8 million or more. The Department 
expects to see a decrease in Form LM-2 reports, to 4,440 reports, since 
410 of the current Form LM-2 reports derive from filers with $8 million 
or more in total annual receipts. Consequently, the Department expects 
to see 410 Form LM-2 LF and 4,440 Form LM-2 reports.
    In the first year, the Department estimates that all 4,850 filers, 
including both the 410 Form LM-2 LF filers, who were previously 
required to file a Form LM-2, and the remaining 4,440 LM-2 filers will 
spend 15 minutes familiarizing themselves with the revised and new 
forms.\21\ They will also face 32.5 hours in nonrecurring recordkeeping 
burden and 44.3 in nonrecurring reporting burden hours, in order to 
adapt accounting systems for new and revised schedules.\22\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \21\ In estimating ``familiarization'' time, an individual is 
not expected to read the instructions to the form, which would take 
more than 15 minutes. Rather, the individual would need only 
determine what the rule does, generally, and whether it applies to a 
particular organization. This information will be easily gleaned 
from the OLMS website and other compliance assistance materials. The 
non-recurring reporting and recordkeeping burden (e.g., for the LM-2 
LF, the 32.5 hours in nonrecurring recordkeeping burden and 44.3 in 
nonrecurring reporting burden hours) would include time reading the 
instructions.
    \22\ For more details, see the Paperwork Reduction Act section 
below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On an annual basis, including the first year, the 410 Form LM-2 LF 
filers will spend an additional 66.5 hours on average filing the new 
Form LM-2 LF. The remaining 4,440 Form LM-2 filers, who will continue 
to file a Form LM-2, will spend an additional 16.5 hours on average 
annually filing the revised Form LM-2.
    Using FY 18 Form LM-2 filings, inflated to 2019 dollars,\23\ and 
2019 BLS statistics,\24\ the weighted average hourly wage for Form LM-2 
filers includes: $38.23 for an accountant, $20.65 for a bookkeeper or 
clerk, $25.85 for a Form LM-2 filing union secretary-treasurer or 
treasurer, and $30.03 for the Form LM-2 filing president, respectively. 
The weighted average hourly wage is $36.77.\25\ To account for fringe 
benefits and overhead costs, as well as any other unknown costs or 
increases in the wage average, the average hourly wage has been 
multiplied by 1.63, so the fully loaded hourly wage is $59.94 ($36.77 x 
1.63).\26\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \23\ According to the Employment Cost Index, total compensation 
increased by approximately 2.8 percent annually from 2018 to 2019, 
see https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CIU1010000000000A.
    \24\ See 2019 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data available 
at: https://www.bls.gov/oes/2019/may/oes_nat.htm.
    \25\ The weighted average calculates the wage rate per hour 
weighted according to the percentage of time that the Form LM-2's 
completion will demand of each official/employee: 90 percent of the 
Form LM-2 burden hours will be completed by an accountant, 5 percent 
by the bookkeeper, 4 percent by the union's treasurer/secretary-
treasurer, and 1 percent by the union president.
    \26\ The use of 1.63 accounts for 17 percent for overhead and 46 
percent for fringe. In the case of the 46 percent for fringe, see 
the following link to BLS data showing that wages and salaries 
represent 68.6 percent (.686) of compensation (https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t02.htm). Dividing total compensation by the 68.6 
percent represented by wages and salaries is equivalent to a 1.46 
multiplier. Adding a 17 percent multiplier (.17) for overhead equals 
1.63.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Applying the above average wage rates to the burden hour changes, 
the Department estimates that the new Form LM-2 LF will produce 
$3,527,799 in new costs during the first year and $1,634,264 in new 
costs each subsequent year. For the revised Form LM-2, the Department 
estimates that filers will incur $24,896,798 in new costs during the 
first year and $4,391,204 in new costs each subsequent year.
C. Summary of Costs
    The Department projects that this rule will produce total first-
year costs of $28,424,597 and total subsequent year costs of 
$6,025,469. The Department projects that the 10-year annualized cost 
will be $8,574,848 using a 3 percent discount rate and $9,005,965 using 
a 7 percent discount rate. As required under E.O. 13771, the Department 
projects that the annualized perpetual cost in 2016 dollars using a 7 
percent discount rate is $5,027,703 beginning in 2021.
D. Benefits
    As explained more fully elsewhere in the preamble to this proposed 
rulemaking, the Department proposes enhancements to the Form LM-2, and 
proposes to introduce the Form LM-2 LF, to provide additional 
information to labor organization members, the Department, and the 
public about the financial activities of labor organizations. 
Specifically, the proposed enhancements seek to protect union assets 
from union and management corruption, and to aid union members in the 
governance of their unions.
    The complexity of labor organizations has increased considerably 
since the LMRDA was originally passed in 1959. This increase in 
complexity warrants enhanced reporting and disclosure. The balance 
between wages/salaries paid to workers and their ``other compensation'' 
has changed significantly during this time. For example, in 1966, more 
than 80 percent of total compensation consisted of wages and salaries, 
with less than 20 percent representing benefits. U.S. Department of 
Labor, Report on the American Workforce (2001) 76, 87. By 2019, wages 
had dropped to 70.1 percent of total compensation and benefits had 
grown to 29.9 percent of the compensation package. U.S. Department of 
Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Chart on Total Benefits, available at 
https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?cu.
    This increased complexity heightens the risk for union and 
management corruption. For example, a recent investigation of auto 
industry corruption involving the United Auto Workers International 
Union (UAW) in Detroit, Michigan, and a city automaker produced 
multiple criminal convictions in the United States District Court for 
the Eastern District of Michigan. The joint investigations conducted by 
OLMS, the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General, the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service 
centered on a conspiracy involving Fiat Chrysler executives bribing 
labor officials to influence labor negotiations. Violations included 
conspiracy to violate the Labor Management Relations Act for paying and 
delivering over $1.5 million in prohibited payments and things of value 
to UAW officials, receiving prohibited payments and things of value 
from others acting in the interest of Fiat Chrysler, failing to report 
income on individual tax returns, conspiring to defraud the United 
States by preparing and filing false tax returns for the UAW-Chrysler 
National Training Center that concealed millions of dollars in 
prohibited payments directed to UAW officials, and deliberately 
providing

[[Page 64749]]

misleading and incomplete testimony in the federal grand jury.
    While labor organizations have grown more complex, heightening the 
need for more detailed or in-depth financial reporting, labor 
organization members today are better educated, more empowered, and 
more familiar with financial data and transactions than ever before. 
Labor organization members, no less than consumers, citizens, or 
creditors, expect access to relevant and useful information in order to 
make fundamental investment, career, and retirement decisions, evaluate 
options, and exercise legally guaranteed rights.
    By increasing and enhancing the reporting requirements, the 
Department can reduce the risk of corruption, while improving the 
informed decision making of labor organizations' members.
E. Regulatory Alternatives
    The Department considered a number of alternatives to the proposed 
rule. One alternative, not to engage in this rulemaking, was rejected 
because the Act's goals are not being met. As explained in the 
preamble, members of labor organizations cannot accurately determine 
from the current Form LM-2 the value of the benefits officials of labor 
organizations are receiving. OLMS cannot readily tell whether a union 
is in trusteeship and cannot cross check for compliance with filing a 
Form LM-15 Trusteeship Report. Forgoing this rulemaking would mean 
union members would not gain a full understanding of all the 
compensation union officers are receiving, including from other labor 
organizations. The financial condition of the union's strike fund would 
remain undisclosed. Labor organization disbursements would be 
comingled, rather than separated and itemized, making the disbursements 
more difficult to understand. Specifically, these disbursements include 
purchases and sales of fixed assets (and names of such purchasers and 
sellers); political activities and lobbying; and contract 
administration and organizing. Finally, certain receipts of the largest 
labor organizations would not be itemized, diminishing the utility of 
the information reported. Members need this information to make 
informed decisions on the governance of their labor organizations.
    Another alternative would be to limit all the new reporting 
requirements to labor organizations with receipts over $8,000,000. But 
this would hinder the members of 4,440 smaller unions from accurately 
determining the value of the benefits officials of labor organizations 
are receiving. It would prevent OLMS from readily telling whether a 
union is in trusteeship or from cross checking for compliance with 
filing a Form LM-15 Trusteeship Report. It would not give union members 
a full understanding of all the compensation union officers are 
receiving, including from other labor organizations. Finally, it would 
comingle information that is best understood when viewed separately; 
specifically, purchases and sales of fixed assets (and names of such 
purchasers and sellers); political activities and lobbying; and 
contract administration and organizing.
    Another alternative would be to phase in the effective date for the 
Form LM-2 changes and provide smaller Form LM-2 filers with additional 
lead time to modify their recordkeeping systems to comply with the new 
reporting requirements. The Department has concluded that a three-month 
period for all Form LM-2 filers to adapt to the new reporting 
requirements should provide sufficient time to make the necessary 
adjustments. OLMS also plans to provide compliance assistance to any 
labor organization that requests it.

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., 
establishes ``as a principle of regulatory issuance that agencies shall 
endeavor, consistent with the objectives of the rule and of applicable 
statutes, to fit regulatory and informational requirements to the scale 
of the business, organizations, and governmental jurisdictions subject 
to regulation.'' Public Law 96-354. To achieve that objective, the RFA 
requires agencies promulgating proposed and final rules to prepare a 
certification and a statement of the factual basis supporting the 
certification, when drafting regulations that will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
The RFA requires the consideration of the impact of a regulation on a 
wide range of small entities, including small businesses, not-for-
profit organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions.
    Agencies must perform a review to determine whether a proposed or 
final rule would have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities. See 5 U.S.C. 603. If the determination is 
that it would, the agency must prepare a regulatory flexibility 
analysis as described in the RFA. Id. However, if an agency determines 
that a proposed or final rule is not expected to have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, section 
605(b) of the RFA provides that the head of the agency may so certify 
and a regulatory flexibility analysis is not required. See 5 U.S.C. 
605. The certification must include a statement providing the factual 
basis for this determination, and the reasoning should be clear.
    According to the Small Business Administration, organizations under 
NAICS 813930 are considered small entities if they have average annual 
receipts of less than $8 million.\27\ For this analysis, based on 
previous standards utilized in other regulatory analyses, the threshold 
for significance is 3 percent of annual receipts, while a substantial 
number of small entities would be 20 percent.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \27\ See https://www.sba.gov/document/support_table-size-
standards.
_____________________________________-

    The Department certifies that this proposed rule will not have a 
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. The 
analysis that follows serves as the factual basis for this 
certification. The Department invites interested persons to submit 
comments and data that may further inform this analysis.
    All numbers used in the analysis were based on 2019 data taken from 
the Office of Labor-Management Standards e.LORS data base, which 
contains records of all labor organizations that have filed LMRDA 
reports with the Department and Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data.
(1) Reasons for and Objectives of the Proposed Rulemaking
    As discussed in the ``Background and Need for Regulatory Action'' 
section of the Regulatory Impact Analysis above, this rule seeks to 
enhance the Form LM-2 Labor Organization Annual Report to improve the 
quality of the data collected and ensure that information is reported 
in such a way as to meet the objectives of the LMRDA by providing labor 
organization members with useful data that will enable them to be 
responsible and effective participants in the democratic governance of 
their labor organizations. The proposed changes, including the 
introduction of the Form LM-2 LF, are designed to provide the 
Department, members of labor organizations, and the public with 
additional and more detailed information about the financial activities 
of labor organization than is available through the current reporting. 
These changes are tailored to minimize reporting costs for small 
unions, while collecting the most information from the largest and most 
financially complex unions.
(2) Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities
    For this analysis, a small union is defined as one in which annual 
receipts

[[Page 64750]]

are less than $8 million. The Department estimates that it receives 
annually 22,175 Forms LM-2, LM-3, and LM-4 reports (4,850 Form LM-2 
reports, 10,600 Form LM-3 reports, and 6,725 Form LM-4 reports), of 
which 410 filings come from unions with $8 million or more in receipts 
and 21,765 filings come from unions with less than $8 million in 
receipts. This proposed rule impacts 4,850 labor organizations subject 
to the LMRDA, CSRA standards of conduct regulations, or FSA, who 
currently file a Form LM-2. Of these organizations, 4,440 have annual 
receipts of less than $8 million. The remaining 17,325 unions with 
annual receipts of less than $8 million file the Forms LM-3 or LM-4, to 
which this rule does not propose changes. The data cited for the 
following calculations came from a query of the Department's database 
containing all submitted Form LM-2, Form LM-3, and Form LM-4 union 
financial disclosure reports for FY 2015-2019. It returned a list of 
each such filer along with various discrete informational fields, 
including each filer's annual receipts information, which was used to 
identify all of the filers with less than $8 million in annual receipts 
that inform this RFA analysis.
(3) The Projected Reporting and Recordkeeping Costs and Requirements
    As discussed previously in the ``Costs of the Form LM-2 LF and LM-2 
Reports for Labor Organizations'' section of the Regulatory Impact 
Analysis and in the Paperwork Reduction Act analysis above, this rule 
introduces a new Form LM-2 LF for the 410 filers with $8 million or 
more in annual receipts, and adds new provisions and reporting 
requirements to the existing Form LM-2 for the 4,440 filers with less 
than $8 million in annual receipts.
    Using FY 18 Form LM-2 filings, inflated to 2019 dollars,\28\ and 
2019 BLS statistics,\29\ the weighted average hourly wage for Form LM-2 
filers includes: $38.23 for an accountant, $20.65 for a bookkeeper or 
clerk, $25.85 for a Form LM-2 filing union secretary-treasurer or 
treasurer, and $30.03 for the Form LM-2 filing president, respectively. 
The weighted average hourly wage is $36.77.\30\ To account for fringe 
benefits and overhead costs, as well as any other unknown costs or 
increases in the wage average, the average hourly wage has been 
multiplied by 1.63, so the fully loaded hourly wage is $59.94 ($36.77 x 
1.63).\31\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \28\ According to the Employment Cost Index, total compensation 
increased by approximately 2.8 percent annually from 2018 to 2019, 
see https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CIU1010000000000A.
    \29\ See 2019 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data available 
at: https://www.bls.gov/oes/2019/may/oes_nat.htm.
    \30\ The weighted average calculates the wage rate per hour 
weighted according to the percentage of time that the Form LM-2's 
completion will demand of each official/employee: 90 percent of the 
Form LM-2 burden hours will be completed by an accountant, 5 percent 
by the bookkeeper, 4 percent by the union's treasurer/secretary-
treasurer, and 1 percent by the union president.
    \31\ The use of 1.63 accounts for 17 percent for overhead and 46 
percent for fringe. In the case of the 46 percent for fringe, see 
the following link to BLS data showing that wages and salaries 
represent 68.6 percent (.686) of compensation (https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t02.htm). Dividing total compensation by the 68.6 
percent represented by wages and salaries is equivalent to a 1.46 
multiplier. Adding a 17 percent multiplier (.17) for overhead equals 
1.63.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The average cost per respondent to complete the Form LM-2 is $5,607 
in the first year and $989 in each subsequent year.
    As mentioned earlier, for this analysis, a small union is defined 
as one in which annual receipts are less than $8 million.
    A threshold of 3 percent of revenues has been used in prior 
rulemakings for the definition of significant economic impact. See, 
e.g., 79 FR 60634 (October 7, 2014, Establishing a Minimum Wage for 
Contractors) and 81 FR 39108 (June 15, 2016, Discrimination on the 
Basis of Sex). This threshold is also consistent with thresholds used 
by other agencies. See, e.g., 79 FR 27106 (May 12, 2014, Department of 
Health and Human Services rule stating that, under its agency 
guidelines for conducting regulatory flexibility analyses, actions that 
do not negatively affect costs or revenues by more than three percent 
annually are not economically significant). The Department believes 
that its use of a 3 percent of revenues significance criterion is 
appropriate.
    The Department believes that its use of a 20 percent of affected 
small business entities substantiality criterion is appropriate given 
prior rulemakings.
    As demonstrated by the tables below, this rule will not have a 
substantial impact on a significant number of small entities.

                                     Significant Impact on Small Unions in the First Year--$8 Million Size Standard
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                             Number of
                                             Number of                      Average new    New burden as    % of small     small unions     % of small
           Size (by receipts)              small unions   Average annual    burden per      % of annual       unions        subject to    unions subject
                                             affected        receipts          union         receipts        affected       significant   to significant
                                                                                                                             impact *        impact **
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
$5M-$8M.................................             240      $6,303,788          $5,607            0.09             1.1  ..............  ..............
$2.5M-$4.99M............................             584       3,527,359           5,607            0.16             2.7  ..............  ..............
$1M-$2.49M..............................           1,094       1,596,511           5,607            0.35             5.0  ..............  ..............
$500K-$999,999..........................           1,107         719,143           5,607            0.78             5.1  ..............  ..............
$250K-$499,999..........................           1,173         357,283           5,607            1.57             5.4  ..............  ..............
$10K-$249,999...........................          10,796          61,856             102            0.16            49.6  ..............  ..............
Less than $10K..........................           6,771           2,790              38           1.377            31.1  ..............  ..............
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................          21,765  ..............  ..............  ..............             100               0             0.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The Revenue test for significant impact on small unions is set at 3% for this rule.
** The standard for substantial number is set at 20% of small unions overall for this rule.


[[Page 64751]]


                                    Significant Impact on Small Unions in Subsequent Years--$8 Million Size Standard
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                             Number of
                                             Number of                      Average new    New burden as    % of small     small unions     % of small
           Size (by receipts)              small unions   Average annual    burden per      % of annual       unions        subject to    unions subject
                                             affected        receipts          union         receipts        affected       significant   to significant
                                                                                                                             impact *        impact **
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
$5M-$8M.................................             240      $6,303,788            $989            0.02             1.1  ..............  ..............
$2.5M-$4.99M............................             584       3,527,359             989            0.03             2.7  ..............  ..............
$1M-$2.49M..............................           1,094       1,596,511             989            0.06             5.0  ..............  ..............
$500K-$999,999..........................           1,107         719,143             989            0.14             5.1  ..............  ..............
$250K-$499,999..........................           1,173         357,283             989            0.28             5.4  ..............  ..............
$10K-$249,999...........................          10,796          61,856              18            0.03            49.6  ..............  ..............
Less than $10K..........................           6,771           2,790               7            0.24            31.1               0  ..............
                                         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................          21,765  ..............  ..............  ..............             100               0             0.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The Revenue test for significant impact on small unions is set at 3% for this rule.
** The standard for substantial number is set at 20% of small unions overall for this rule.

(4) Duplicative, Overlapping, and Conflicting Rules
    The Department is aware of a proposed rule that would, if 
promulgated, overlap with the provisions contained in this proposed 
rule. On December 17, 2019, the Department proposed a rule governing 
intermediate bodies that are composed of public sector organizations 
but are subordinate to national or international labor organizations 
covered by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 
(LMRDA or Act). See 84 FR 68842. Under the proposal such intermediate 
bodies would be covered by the LMRDA and be required to file the 
applicable annual union financial reports. If that proposal were to 
become final, those intermediate bodies--as newly regulated entities--
would be affected by the instant rulemaking.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996

    This rule is not a major rule as defined by section 804 of the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. This rule 
will not result in an annual effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or 
more; a major increase in costs or prices; or significant adverse 
effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, 
innovation, or on the ability of the United States-based companies to 
compete with foreign-based companies in domestic and export markets.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This statement is prepared in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501 (PRA). See 5 CFR 1320.9. The rule 
implements an information collection that meets the requirements of the 
PRA in that (1) the information collection has practical utility to 
labor organizations, their members, other members of the public, and 
the Department; (2) the rule does not require the collection of 
information that is duplicative of other reasonably accessible 
information; (3) the provisions reduce to the extent practicable and 
appropriate the burden on labor organizations that must provide the 
information, including small labor organizations; (4) the form, 
instructions, and explanatory information are written in plain language 
that will be understandable by reporting labor organizations; (5) the 
disclosure requirements are implemented in ways consistent and 
compatible, to the maximum extent practicable, with the existing 
reporting and recordkeeping practices of labor organizations that must 
comply with them; (6) this preamble informs labor organizations of the 
reasons that the information will be collected, the way in which it 
will be used, the Department's estimate of the average burden of 
mandatory compliance, the fact that all information collected will be 
made public, and the fact that they need not respond unless the form 
displays a currently valid OMB control number; (7) the Department has 
explained its plans for the efficient and effective management and use 
of the information to be collected, to enhance its utility to the 
Department and the public; (8) the Department has explained why the 
method of collecting information is ``appropriate to the purpose for 
which the information is to be collected''; and (9) the changes 
implemented by this rule make extensive, appropriate use of information 
technology ``to reduce burden and improve data quality, agency 
efficiency and responsiveness to the public.'' See 5 CFR 1320.9; 44 
U.S.C. 3506(c).
    Concurrent with the publication of this proposed rule, the 
Department is submitting an associated information collection request 
to the Office of Management and Budget for approval.
A. Summary
    The Department proposes to promulgate a rule that updates and 
revises 29 CFR part 403 in order to establish a Form LM-2 LF, and to 
improve the Form LM-2 Annual Report in the interest of labor 
organization financial integrity and transparency.
    Currently, unions must file one of three types of annual financial 
reports based on the total annual receipts of the union. The annual 
financial reports vary in the level of detail that must be reported. 
Form LM-2 is the most detailed report. Unions with total annual 
receipts of $250,000 or more and subordinate labor organizations held 
in trusteeship file this report, which discloses certain information 
items and financial activities in separate line items under assets, 
liabilities, receipts, and disbursements. Supporting schedules detail 
loans, investments, payments to officers and employees, and other data. 
Disbursements are reported in specified categories (Representational 
Activities; Political Activities and Lobbying; Contributions, Gifts and 
Grants; General Overhead; and Union Administration). Certain 
transactions that equal or aggregate to $5,000 are separately itemized.
    Form LM-3, a less-detailed report, may be filed by unions with 
total annual receipts of less than $250,000 (if not in trusteeship). It 
requires the reporting of certain information items, has fewer 
financial items than the Form LM-2, and has no supporting schedules or 
itemization.
    Form LM-4, an abbreviated two-page report, may be filed by unions 
with annual financial receipts of less than

[[Page 64752]]

$10,000 (if not in trusteeship). It requires the reporting of a limited 
number of information items and five financial details.
    Simplified annual financial reports may be filed by parent unions 
on behalf of subordinate labor organizations with no assets, 
liabilities, receipts, or disbursements and that meet certain other 
conditions.
    The Secretary has authority to implement the reporting provisions 
by regulation. ``The Secretary shall have authority to issue, amend, 
and rescind rules and regulations prescribing the form and publication 
of reports required to be filed under this title and such other 
reasonable rules and regulations (including rules prescribing reports 
concerning trusts in which a labor organization is interested) as he 
may find necessary to prevent the circumvention or evasion of such 
reporting requirements.'' See 29 U.S.C. 438.
B. Form LM-2 LF
    The Department proposes a new Form LM-2 LF. It would track the 
existing Form LM-2 except as follows. In new Item 3(d), the union would 
report whether it was in trusteeship. New Item 10(b) would require the 
labor organization to report whether certain officers or employees 
received payment from another labor organization. New Item 11(c) would 
ask whether the union has a separate strike fund and, if so, provide 
information on the fund. New Item 18(b) would require reporting of the 
date of the labor organization's current constitution and bylaws.
    Under the proposal, four schedules would be divided in two and 
become eight schedules. Specifically, the Department proposes to divide 
Schedule 3--Sale of Investments and Fixed Assets into two schedules. 
The first would be a new Schedule 3--Sale of Investments. The second 
would be new Schedule 4--Sale of Fixed Assets.
    In the new Schedule 3--Sale of Investments, the Department proposes 
to add two new columns. The first new column, entitled ``Name and 
Address of Purchaser or Financial Management Firm (A),'' would disclose 
the purchasers of investments from the labor organization. A second 
column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the sale. The other 
columns (Description (if land or buildings, give location); Cost; Book 
Value; Gross Sales Price; and Amount Received) would remain the same 
but would be designated with different letters, to accommodate the two 
new columns.
    The second part of the divided schedule would be the new Schedule 
4--Sale of Fixed Assets. As in the case of new Schedule 3, the 
Department proposes to add two new columns to Schedule 4--Sale of Fixed 
Assets. The first new column entitled ``Name and Address of Purchaser'' 
would disclose the purchasers of fixed assets from the labor 
organization. A second column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of 
the sale. In addition, the Department proposes that the union would be 
required to identify automobiles individually by make, model, year, and 
Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). This information would be listed 
under existing Column A (Description).
    Current Schedule 4 will also be divided. Under current Schedule 4--
Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets, a labor organization must 
report details of the purchases by the labor organization of U.S. 
Treasury securities, marketable securities, other investments, and 
fixed assets, including those fixed assets that were expensed. As with 
sale of investments and fixed assets, the Department proposes to break 
this schedule into two: New Schedule 5--Purchase of Investments and new 
Schedule 6--Purchase of Fixed Assets.
    In the new Schedule 5--Purchase of Investments, the Department 
proposes to add two new columns. The first new column entitled ``Name 
and Address of Seller or Financial Management Firm (A)'' would disclose 
the identity of the seller of investments to the labor organization. A 
second new column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the purchase.
    Likewise, to new Schedule 6--Purchase of Fixed Assets, the 
Department proposes to add two new columns. The first new column 
entitled ``Name and Address of Seller (A)'' would disclose the identity 
of the seller of fixed assets to the labor organization. A second new 
column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the purchase. In 
addition, the Department proposes that the union would be required to 
identify automobiles individually by make, model, year, and VIN. This 
information would be listed under existing Column A (Description).
    The Department proposes to divide Schedule 15--Representational 
Activities into two and renumber them Schedule 24 and Schedule 25. The 
first would be designated new Schedule 24--Contract Negotiation and 
Administration. The second would be new Schedule 25--Organizing.
    In addition, Schedule 16--Political Activities and Lobbying would 
be renumbered and divided into two schedules. On new Schedule 26, labor 
organizations would report disbursements for political activities. On 
new Schedule 27, the labor organization would report lobbying 
disbursements.
    The Department proposes to add new schedules that coincide with the 
items of cash receipts listed on Statement B. Stated otherwise, seven 
categories of receipts are currently reported as seven aggregate, lump 
sums. Under this proposal, they would by supported by schedules. These 
schedules represent new requirements that labor organizations itemize 
the individual categories of receipts aggregated to $5,000 or more from 
any one source. The labor organization would be required to complete a 
separate itemization schedule for each individual or entity from which 
the labor organization has received $5,000 or more. Each transaction 
from that individual or entity would be accompanied by information 
about the individual, the purpose of the payment, the date of the 
payment, and the amount of the payment. The total amount received from 
the individual or entity, both itemized and non-itemized, would be 
included at the bottom of the itemized schedule. The totals from each 
itemized schedule would then be added together and that number would be 
entered in the appropriate item on Statement B.
    These additional schedules correspond to the following categories 
of receipts:
     Dues and Agency Fees;
     Per Capita Tax;
     Fees, Fines, Assessments, Work Permits;
     Sales of Supplies;
     Rents;
     On Behalf of Affiliates for Transmittal to Them; and
     From Members for Disbursement on Their Behalf.
    The Department seeks comment on whether to require for Form LM-2 LF 
a Schedule 32--Foreign Transactions. It would require reporting if the 
labor union engages in a transaction with a foreign entity or a foreign 
individual. The labor organization would report any individual receipt 
of $5,000 or more or total receipts from any single entity or 
individual that aggregate to $5,000 or more during the reporting period 
derived from a foreign entity or individual.
    The Department proposes to retain its current itemization 
transaction threshold. Specifically, schedules 14 through 19 on the 
Form LM-2 are currently subject to itemization. These schedules reflect 
various services provided to union members by the union. All ``major'' 
disbursements during the reporting period in the

[[Page 64753]]

various schedules must be separately itemized. A major disbursement 
includes (1) any individual disbursement of $5,000 or more; or (2) 
total disbursements to any single entity or individual that aggregate 
to $5,000 or more during the reporting period. All other disbursements 
in these schedules are aggregated.
    The Department proposes to renumber schedules 14 through 19 as 
schedules 23 through 30. (The two extra schedules are the result of 
dividing into two the schedules for Representational Activities and 
Political Activities and Lobbying.) As in the current Form LM-2, under 
these newly renumbered schedules, all ``major'' disbursements during 
the reporting period in the various categories would be separately 
identified. As proposed, a major disbursement would include (1) any 
individual disbursement of $5,000 or more or (2) total disbursements to 
any single entity or individual that aggregate to $5,000 or more during 
the reporting period. All other disbursements in these schedules would 
continue to be aggregated.
    The Department seeks comment on whether to narrow, modify or 
eliminate a confidentiality exemption for reporting certain 
information.
C. Form LM-2 Revised
    The Department proposes to revise Form LM-2. It would mirror the 
existing Form LM-2 except as follows. In new Item 3(d), the union would 
report whether it was in trusteeship. In new Item 10(b), the union 
would provide whether it has a trust and, if so, provide information on 
the trust. New Item 10(c) would require the labor organization to 
report whether certain officers or employees received payment from 
another labor organization. New 18(b) would require reporting of the 
date of the labor organization's constitution and bylaws.
    Under this proposal, four schedules would be divided in two and 
become eight schedules. The Department proposes to divide Schedule 3--
Sale of Investments and Fixed Assets into two schedules: New Schedule 
3--Sale of Investments and new Schedule 4--Sale of Fixed Assets.
    In the new Schedule 3--Sale of Investments, the Department proposes 
to add two new columns. The first new column, entitled ``Name and 
Address of Purchaser or Financial Management Firm (A),'' would disclose 
the purchasers of investments from the labor organization. A second 
column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the sale. The other 
columns (Description (if land or buildings, give location); Cost; Book 
Value; Gross Sales Price; and Amount Received) would remain the same 
but would be designated with different letters, to accommodate the two 
new columns. The other columns (Description (if land or buildings, give 
location) (A); Cost (B); Book Value (C); Gross Sales Price (D); and 
Amount Received (E)) would remain the same but would be designated with 
different letters, to accommodate the two new columns.
    The second of the two divided schedules would be the new Schedule 
4--Sale of Fixed Assets. As in the case of new Schedule 3, the 
Department proposes to add two new columns to Schedule 4--Sale of Fixed 
Assets. The first new column entitled ``Name and Address of Purchaser 
(A)'' would disclose the purchasers of fixed assets from the labor 
organization. A second column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of 
the sale. In addition, the Department proposes that the union would be 
required to identify automobiles individually by make, model, year, and 
VIN. This information would be listed under existing Column A 
(Description).
    Current Schedule 4 will also be divided. The Department proposes to 
divide Schedule 4--Purchase of Investments and Fixed Assets into two 
schedules: New Schedule 5--Purchase of Investments and new Schedule 6--
Purchase of Fixed Assets. Under current Schedule 4--Purchase of 
Investments and Fixed Assets, a labor organization must report details 
of the purchases of U.S. Treasury securities, marketable securities, 
other investments, and fixed assets, including those fixed assets that 
were expensed. As with sale of investments and fixed assets, the 
Department proposes to break this schedule into two: New Schedule 5--
Purchase of Investments and new Schedule 6--Purchase of Fixed Assets.
    In the new Schedule 5--Purchase of Investments, the Department 
proposes to add two new columns. The first new column entitled ``Name 
and Address of Seller or Financial Management Firm (A)'' would disclose 
the identity of the seller of investments to the labor organization. A 
second new column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the purchase.
    Likewise, to new Schedule 6--Purchase of Fixed Assets, the 
Department proposes to add two new columns. The first new column 
entitled ``Name and Address of Seller (A)'' would disclose the identity 
of the seller of fixed assets to the labor organization. A second new 
column ``Date (C)'' would disclose the date of the purchase. In 
addition, the Department proposes that the union would be required to 
identify automobiles individually by make, model, year, and VIN. This 
information would be listed under existing Column A (Description).
    The Department proposes to divide Schedule 15--Representational 
Activities into two, and renumber them Schedule 24 and Schedule 25. The 
first would be designated new Schedule 24--Contract Negotiation and 
Administration. The second would be new Schedule 25--Organizing.
    In addition, Schedule 16--Political Activities and Lobbying would 
be renumbered and divided into two schedules. On new Schedule 26, labor 
organizations would report disbursements for political activities. On 
new Schedule 27, the labor organization would report lobbying 
disbursements.
    The Department seeks comment on whether to raise the threshold for 
filing the Form LM-2 from its current $250,000 level to $300,000. 
Although the overwhelming majority (78.5%) of all reporting labor 
organizations are currently exempt from filing Form LM-2, changing the 
threshold to $300,000 would reduce the recordkeeping and reporting 
burden for approximately 273 labor organizations.
D. Hours To Complete and File Form LM-2 LF and LM-2 Reports
    In sum, the proposed rule would create a new Form LM-2 LF, which 
the Department estimates would impose an additional 66.5 burden hours, 
for a total of 596.75 burden hours; the Form LM- 2 changes would impose 
an additional 16.5 burden hours, for a total of 546.5 hours.\32\
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    \32\ Additionally, the Department estimates that all Form LM-2 
and Form LM-2 LF filers would face a one-time 15-minute 
familiarization burden. See the Form T-1 final rule at 85 FR 13437. 
Further, the Department estimates that these filers would face 32.5 
hours in nonrecurring recordkeeping burden and 44.3 in nonrecurring 
reporting burden hours, in order to adapt accounting systems for new 
and revised schedules. See the 2003 Form LM-2 final rule, 68 FR 
58439, Table 4.
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The Form LM-2 LF
    As explained, the Form LM-2 LF would establish 12 new schedules. In 
the 2003 Form LM-2 final rule, the Department estimated that the new 
disbursement schedules would result in 5 hours of new burden, 4.4 hours 
of recordkeeping burden, and 0.6 hours of reporting burden. See 68 FR 
58439, Table 4 (Summary of Average Additional First Year Burden for the 
Revised Form LM-2). The Department applies this 5 hours per schedule 
burden to each of the 12 new schedules in the Form LM-2 LF, resulting 
in 60

[[Page 64754]]

additional reporting hours for the form. Additionally, while the 
proposed Form LM-2 LF would create new columns for benefits on the 
officer and employee schedules, the proposed changes would also remove 
the functional reporting requirements, resulting in no net gain in 
burden for those schedules.
    In new Item 10(b), the union will provide whether it has a trust 
and, if so, provide information on the trust. New Item 10(c) will 
require the labor organization to report whether certain officers or 
employees received payment from another labor organization. New Item 
11(c) will ask whether the union has a separate strike fund and, if so, 
provide information on the fund. New Item 18(b) will require reporting 
of the dates of the labor organization's current constitution and 
bylaws. Each one of these items will add .25 hours to the burden, 
resulting in an additional hour of burden.
    In each of two new schedules, two new columns will be added. Each 
of these columns will add 0.50 hours of burden, for a total of two 
hours of additional burden.
    Finally, experience with the Form LM-2 in previous rulemakings 
indicates that a labor organization will spend 15 minutes a year 
training new staff; 60 minutes preparing the download; 90 minutes 
preparing and testing the data file; and 60 minutes editing, validating 
and importing the data. See the Form T-1 final rule, 85 FR 13435. In 
total, the Department estimates 596.75 burden hours for the new Form 
LM-2 LF (the 530 hours associated with the current Form LM-2 and the 
66.75 hours associated with the additional schedules and reporting 
requirements).
Form LM-2
    For the Form LM-2, the Department proposes adding four new 
schedules, at an estimated five burden hours per schedule or 20 total 
hours. However, the Department also proposes to eliminate functional 
reporting for the officer disbursements Schedule 11 and employee 
disbursement Schedule 12. The Department estimates that these changes 
result in 5 hours of burden savings per each of these forms, for a 
total of 10 hours of savings. Subtracting these 10 hours from the 20 
hours resulting from the new schedules equals an estimated 10 
additional burden hours for the Form LM-2.
    In each of two schedules, two new columns will be added. Each of 
these columns will add 0.50 hours of burden, for a total of two hours 
of additional burden.
    In new Item 10(b), the union will provide whether it has a trust 
and, if so, provide information on the trust. New Item 10(c) will 
require the labor organization to report whether certain officers or 
employees received payment from another labor organization. New 18(b) 
will require reporting of the dates of the labor organization's current 
constitution and bylaws. Each one of these items will add .25 hours to 
the burden, resulting in an additional 0.75 hours of burden.
    Further, experience with the Form LM-2 in previous rulemakings 
indicates that a labor organization will spend 15 minutes a year 
training new staff; 60 minutes preparing the download; 90 minutes 
preparing and testing the data file; and 60 minutes editing, validating 
and importing the data. See the Form T-1 final rule, 85 FR 13435. In 
total, the Department estimates an additional 16.5 burden hours for a 
total of 546.5 hours for the revised Form LM-2 (the 530 hours 
associated with the current Form LM-2 and the 16.5 hours associated 
with the additional schedules and reporting requirements).
E. Estimated Number of Form LM-2 LF, LM-2, LM-3, and LM-4 Reports
    The Department currently estimates that it receives annually 22,175 
Form LM-2, LM-3, and LM-4 reports (4,850 Form LM-2 reports, 10,600 Form 
LM-3 reports, and 6,725 Form LM-4 reports).\33\ The proposed rule would 
not add any new reports to this universe, although the Department does 
expect to see a change in the number of Form LM-2 reports received, 
with the addition of the Form LM-2 LF for those filers with total 
annual receipts of $8 million or more. The Department would expect to 
see a decrease in Form LM-2 reports, to 4,440 reports, since 410 of the 
current Form LM-2 reports derive from filers with $8 million or more in 
total annual receipts. Consequently, the Department would expect 410 
Form LM-2 LF reports.
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    \33\ See OLMS Historical Filing Data at https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/filing_data.htm. The Department averaged 
reports received over the five-year period, FYs 15-19.
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F. Total Burden Hours
    The current Form LM-2 requires 530 burden hours; the current Form 
LM-3 requires 103 hours; and the current Form LM-4 requires 9 
hours.\34\ In sum, the proposed rule would create a new Form LM-2 LF, 
which the Department estimates would impose 66.75 new burden hours, for 
a total of 596.75 additional burden hours; and the Form LM-2 changes 
would impose an additional 16.5 burden hours.
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    \34\ See the Form LM-2, LM-3, and LM-4 Instructions at https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/LM2_3_4.htm.
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    For the new Form LM-2 LF, since the Department estimates 410 
reports submitted, the total recurring burden hours comes to 244,667.5 
hours (410 reports x 596.75 hours per report). For the Form LM-2, since 
the Department estimates 4,440 revised reports submitted, the total 
additional, recurring burden hours comes to 73,260 hours (4,440 x 
16.5).
    The total additional, recurring burden hours imposed by the 
proposed rule is 317,927.5.
G. Conclusion
    As the proposed rule requires an information collection, the 
Department is submitting, contemporaneous with the publication of this 
notice, an information collection request (ICR) to revise the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (PRA) clearance to address the clearance term. A copy of 
this ICR, with applicable supporting documentation, including among 
other items a description of the likely respondents, proposed frequency 
of response, and estimated total burden may be obtained free of charge 
from the RegInfo.gov website at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=201907-1245-001 (this link will only become active 
on the day following publication of this document) or from the 
Department by contacting Andrew Davis on 202-693-0123 (this is not a 
toll-free number)/email: [email protected].
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Agency: Office of Labor-Management Standards.
    Title: Labor Organization and Auxiliary Reports.
    OMB Number: 1245-0003.
    Affected Public: Private Sector--labor organizations.
    Total Estimated Number of Responses: 31,686.
    Frequency of Response: Varies.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 4,472,819.
    Estimated Total Annual Other Burden Cost: $0.

List of Subjects in 29 CFR Parts 402, 403, and 408

    Labor organization, Trusts, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    Accordingly, for the reasons discussed in the preamble, the 
Department proposes to amend parts 402, 403, and 408 of title 29, 
chapter IV of the Code of Federal Regulations as set forth below:

[[Page 64755]]

PART 402--LABOR ORGANIZATION INFORMATION REPORTS

0
1. The authority citation for part 402 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Secs. 201, 207, 208, 73 Stat. 524, 529 (29 U.S.C. 
431, 437, 438); Secretary's Order No. 03-2012, 77 FR 69376, November 
16, 2012.

0
2. Amend Sec.  402.5 by revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:


Sec.  402.5   Terminal reports.

    (a) Any labor organization required to file reports under the 
provisions of this part, which ceases to exist by virtue of dissolution 
or any other form of termination of its existence as a labor 
organization, or which loses its identity as a reporting labor 
organization through merger, consolidation or otherwise, shall file a 
report containing a detailed statement of the circumstances and 
effective date of such termination or loss of reporting identity, and 
if the latter, such report shall also state the name and mailing 
address of the labor organization into which it has been consolidated, 
merged, or otherwise absorbed. Such report shall be submitted on Form 
LM-2 or Form LM-2 LF in connection with the terminal financial report 
required by Sec.  403.5 and shall be signed by the president and 
treasurer, or corresponding principal officers, of the labor 
organization at the time of its termination or loss of reporting 
identity and, together with a copy thereof, shall be filed with the 
Office of Labor-Management Standards within 30 days of the effective 
date of such termination or loss of reporting identity, as the case may 
be.
* * * * *

PART 403--LABOR ORGANIZATION ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORTS

0
3. The authority citation for part 403 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  Secs. 201, 207, 208, 301, 73 Stat. 524, 529, 530 (29 
U.S.C. 431, 437, 438, 461); Secretary's Order No. 03-2012, 77 FR 
69376, November 16, 2012.

0
4. Amend Sec.  403.2 by revising paragraphs (d)(2), (d)(3) introductory 
text, and (d)(3)(i) through (iii) to read as follows:


Sec.  403.2  Annual financial report.

* * * * *
    (d) * * *
    (2) A separate report shall be filed on Form T-1 for each such 
trust within 90 days after the end of the labor organization's fiscal 
year in the detail required by the instructions accompanying the form 
and constituting a part thereof, and shall be signed by the president 
and treasurer, or corresponding principal officers, of the labor 
organization. Only the parent labor organization (i.e., the national/
international or intermediate labor organization) must file the Form T-
1 report for covered trusts in which both the parent labor organization 
and its affiliates satisfy the financial or managerial domination test 
set forth in paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this section. The affiliates must 
continue to identify the trust in their Form LM-2 Labor Organization 
Annual Report or Form LM-2 LF Labor Organization Annual Report Long 
Form, and include a statement that the parent labor organization will 
file a Form T-1 report for the trust.
    (3) No Form T-1 should be filed for any trust (or a plan of which 
the trust is part) that:
    (i) Meets the statutory definition of a labor organization and 
already files a Form LM-2, LM-2 LF, Form LM-3, Form LM-4, or simplified 
LM report;
    (ii) The LMRDA exempts from reporting;
    (iii) Meets the definition of a subsidiary organization pursuant to 
Part X of the instructions for the Form LM-2 Labor Organization Annual 
Report or Part (X) of the instructions for the Form LM-2 LF Labor 
Organization Annual Report Long Form;
* * * * *
0
5. Revise Sec.  403.3 to read as follows:


Sec.  403.3  Form of annual financial report--detailed report.

    (a) Every labor organization shall, except as expressly provided 
otherwise in this part, file an annual financial report as required by 
Sec.  403.2, prepared on United States Department of Labor Form LM-2, 
``Labor Organization Annual Report,'' in the detail required by the 
instructions accompanying the form and constituting a part thereof.
    (b) If a labor organization has gross annual receipts totaling 
$8,000,000 or more for its fiscal year it shall file the annual 
financial report called for in section 201(b) of the Act on United 
States Department of Labor Form LM-2 LF entitled ``Labor Organization 
Annual Report Long Form,'' in accordance with the instructions 
accompanying such form and constituting a part thereof.
0
6. Amend Sec.  403.5 by revising paragraphs (a) and (b) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  403.5  Terminal financial report.

    (a) Any labor organization required to file a report under the 
provisions of this part, which during its fiscal year loses its 
identity as a reporting labor organization through merger, 
consolidation, or otherwise, shall, within 30 days after such loss, 
file a terminal financial report with the Office of Labor-Management 
Standards, on Form LM-2, LM-2 LF, LM-3, or LM-4, as may be appropriate, 
signed by the president and treasurer or corresponding principal 
officers of the labor organization immediately prior to the time of its 
loss of reporting identity.
    (b) Every labor organization which has assumed trusteeship over a 
subordinate labor organization shall file within 90 days after the 
termination of such trusteeship on behalf of the subordinate labor 
organization a terminal financial report with the Office of Labor-
Management Standards, on Form LM-2 or Form LM-2 LF and in conformance 
with the requirements of this part.
* * * * *
0
7. Amend Sec.  403.8 by revising paragraph (b)(1) to read as follows:


Sec.  403.8  Dissemination and verification of reports.

* * * * *
    (b)(1) If a labor organization is required to file a report under 
this part using the Form LM-2 or Form LM-2 LF and indicates that it has 
failed or refused to disclose information required by the Form 
concerning any disbursement, or receipt not otherwise reported on 
Statement B, to an individual or entity in the amount of $5,000 or 
more, or any two or more disbursements, or receipts not otherwise 
reported on Statement B, to an individual or entity that, in the 
aggregate, amount to $5,000 or more, because disclosure of such 
information may be adverse to the organization's legitimate interests, 
then the failure or refusal to disclose the information shall be deemed 
``just cause'' for purposes of paragraph (a) of this section.
* * * * *

PART 408--LABOR ORGANIZATION TRUSTEESHIP REPORTS

0
8. The authority to part 408 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  Secs. 202, 207, 208, 73 Stat. 525, 529 (29 U.S.C. 
432, 437, 438); Secretary's Order No. 03-2012, 77 FR 69376, November 
16, 2012.

0
9. Revise Sec.  408.5 to read as follows:


Sec.  408.5  Annual financial report.

    During the continuance of a trusteeship, the labor organization 
which has assumed trusteeship over a subordinate labor organization, 
shall file with the Office of Labor-Management Standards on behalf of 
the subordinate labor organization the annual financial report and any 
Form T-1 reports

[[Page 64756]]

required by part 403 of this chapter, signed by the president and 
treasurer or corresponding principal officers of the labor organization 
which has assumed such trusteeship, and the trustees of the subordinate 
labor organization on Form LM-2 or Form LM-2 LF.
0
10. Revise Sec.  408.7 to read as follows:


Sec.  408.7   Terminal trusteeship financial report.

    Each labor organization which has assumed trusteeship over a 
subordinate labor organization shall file within 90 days after the 
termination of such trusteeship on behalf of the subordinate labor 
organization a terminal financial report, and one copy, with the Office 
of Labor-Management Standards, on Form LM-2 or Form LM-2 LF and in 
conformance with the requirements of part 403 of this chapter.

Andrew D. Auerbach,
Acting Director, Office of Labor-Management Standards.

    Note: The following forms will not appear in the Code of Federal 
Regulations.

BILLING CODE 4510-86-P

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[FR Doc. 2020-21685 Filed 10-8-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-86-P