Republicans will focus on limiting government regulations, including environmental and labor rules, that are creating "burdens to job creators," U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said.
The agenda for the rest of the year will include repealing or scaling back Environmental Protection Agency rules on power plant pollution, ozone standards and greenhouse gas emissions, Cantor, a Virginia Republican, said today in a memo to Republican lawmakers.
"By pursuing a steady repeal of job-destroying regulations, we can help lift the cloud of uncertainty hanging over small and large employers," Cantor said in the memo.
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The Republican agenda is "ideologically driven," and will jeopardize clean air and water and allow employers to punish workers for their lawful right to organize, said a statement from House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi's office.
House Republicans also plan legislation to prevent the National Labor Relations Board from restricting where an employer can locate jobs, he said.
The labor board has been accused by Republicans and business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce of pushing a pro-union agenda. Board opponents cite its April complaint against Boeing Co. that said the world's largest aerospace company retaliated for worker strikes in its Seattle-area hub by building a plant in South Carolina, a state where employees aren't required to join a union.
Tax Deduction
The House will also work on a plan to let small business owners take a tax deduction equal to 20 percent of their income to free up funds for hiring and expansion, he said.
President Barack Obama is set to outline a jobs plan next month that will include funding to improve the nation's infrastructure.
Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, said House Republicans are '"struggling to play catch-up" on job creation after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke "called for more aggressive fiscal policies than they have supported so far."
At an annual retreat of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Bernanke urged adoption of "good, proactive housing policies" to reverse the depressed U.S. real estate market and warned lawmakers to avoid steps that may hurt short-term growth.
Lawmakers return from their August recess next week.
Bloomberg News
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