Is There Life Left in Card-Check Bill?

Sen. Tom Harkin disputes reports that the Employee Free Choice Act is dead.

June 28, 2010

WASHINGTON - Late last week, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) implied that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) was not dead in the Senate, The Hill reports. "To those who think it??s dead, I say think again," said Harkin during the Bill Press radio program.

As chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Harkin said Democrats would likely try to pass the card-check measure during a lame-duck session. "We??re still trying to maneuver," he said. Democrats might break apart the bill to get sections of the union-friendly bill approved separately.

Harkin has been positive about EFCA for a while even though it appears unlikely that the Senate could garner the 60 votes needed to pass the legislation. Many labor leaders are feeling that the bill in its current form will not pass during this Congress, but Harkin continues to push the legislation, such as during a talk to the United Auto Workers union.

The senator believes passage of the bill or parts of it could happen during a lame-duck congressional session at the end of 2010, which will happen after the November election. "A lot of things can happen in a lame-duck session, too," he said, referring to card-check legislation.

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