Rep. Cass Ballenger (R-NC) will not rest until he reforms OSHA. Last month, Ballenger officially put his OSHA reform legislation, HR 1834, on hold, saying the Clinton administration’s promise to veto his bill makes further work on it counterproductive.
But on April 15 he introduced his "Small Business OSHA Relief Act of 1996" to the House Economic and Educational Opportunities Committee. The bill was approved by a subcommittee in a 7-5 vote within two days, and at press time was awaiting a hearing by the full committee, "probably sometime in May," according to Ballenger’s spokesman Patrick Murphy. "Congressman Ballenger has said he feels if he doesn’t pass a bill he hasn’t accomplished anything," explains Murphy.
Ballenger’s intent with HR 3234 is to put into law several individual reform initiatives that members of the administration have endorsed on record during the past two years.