The Obama administration proposed another extension of COBRA premium subsidy benefits on Monday, according to Business Insurance. President Barack Obama included this latest extension in his proposed federal budget for the fiscal year 2011. The proposed extension would reportedly extend the 65 percent premium subsidy to individuals whose employment is terminated between March 1, 2010, and December 31, 2010, and those individuals would be eligible for the subsidy for up to 12 months.

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By Charles S. Plumb

Yesterday’s ruling by a federal court of appeals stops enforcement of key portions of Oklahoma’s sometimes controversial immigration law known as House Bill 1804. First, a brief history.

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Today, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis hosted her third live Web chat during her tenure with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). During the session, Solis answered questions on the department’s proposed budget for the 2011 fiscal year. She touched briefly on the agency’s plans with the requested $116.5 billion, a decrease from last year’s $193.6 billion. This decrease can be largely attributed to a decline in unemployment insurance benefit payments.

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Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis has announced the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) regulatory agenda for 2010, saying, “Protecting wages and working conditions for workers is key to the mission of our department, and ensuring that workers have a voice on the job is also vital.” The agenda is expected to satisfy many union demands. Below is a summary of the DOL’s priorities by department.

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The federal Transportation Department’s announcement banning texting by drivers of commercial vehicles is sure to make employers think twice about their policies even if they don’t have trucks or buses on the road.

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After a 5-4 ruling delivered January 21 by the U.S. Supreme Court, corporations and labor unions will now be permitted to spend as much as they wish on independent activities in support or opposition of presidential and congressional candidates. The restrictions on campaign expenditures had been in place for decades.

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By Michael Leahy

With news of Republican Scott Brown’s victory in a special election held to fill the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s term, many employers are wondering what the future holds for health care reform. The answer is, it’s still coming.

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The White House reportedly reached a deal with organized labor on Thursday over the controversial “Cadillac” tax found in the U.S. Senate’s health care reform bill. The original provision in the Senate’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) creates a tax on employer-sponsored high-end “Cadillac” coverage. Under the original provision, the tax would have been 40 percent of the “excess benefit” of plans that exceed the thresholds of $8,500 for individual coverage and $23,000 for family coverage.

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The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) just released updated COBRA Model Notices that reflect the COBRA subsidy extension that was part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010. The new COBRA subsidy legislation extends the original federal COBRA subsidy created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and requires employers to provide notice to certain current and future COBRA beneficiaries that details the premium subsidy extension created by the new legislation.

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According to the New York Times, President Barack Obama has reportedly decided to renominate Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Last summer, the President nominated Becker, Mark Pearce, and Brian Hayes to the U.S. Senate to be members of the NLRB. In December, Becker’s nomination was returned to the White House for reconsideration after Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) put a hold on it. (The Senate held over the nominations of Pearce and Hayes until its 2010 session.)

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