AFL-CIO
Congressional Voting Record (COPE)
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Ron
Wyden |
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| View the voting record of Ron Wyden on bills that represent a wide range of the issues most important to working people and their families. |
1997 U.S. Senate
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Right
Votes—71%
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Right—5
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Wrong—2 |
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Lifetime
Right—79%
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BALANCED
BUDGET CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
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| Today, a booming stock market--from which many working families are shut out--and painful budget cuts in welfare and other federal programs that help poor and working families have combined to balance the federal budget. If the boom turns into a bust and federal revenue plummets, Congress and the president will have many options to fight a recession. That wouldn’t be true if an amendment to the U.S. Constitution requiring a balanced budget had become law. The AFL-CIO opposed S.J. Res. 1 because if a recession occurs, the amendment’s terms would require cuts in vital worker safety net programs such as unemployment insurance, food stamps and even Social Security and Medicare in order to balance the budget. It could also mean an increase in state and local taxes because those jurisdictions would be forced to make up for lost federal help to maintain vital programs. The balanced budget amendment failed March 4 by a 66-34 vote (a two-thirds majority was needed). Y=W, N=R (DEM: 11-34; REP: 55-0) Wyden's Vote: No |
Right
Vote |
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COMP
TIME AND 40-HOUR WEEK
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| At the start of the 105th Congress, anti-worker lawmakers renewed their attack on working families again with one of the first bills of the session. S. 4 would allow employers to pay workers in compensatory time off instead of cash for overtime hours. While the bill called for voluntary agreements between employees and employers, employers held the upper hand and penalties for violating the voluntary provisions were toothless. Additionally, many working families count on overtime to balance the family budget. The bill also allotted an 80-hour work period before any worker could earn overtime, established a program that allowed employers to provide only one hour off for each hour of overtime instead of an hour and a half and even allowed bosses to dock the pay of salaried workers for taking time off during the day for things such as dental and doctor’s appointments. Worker-friendly lawmakers staged a filibuster against the bill and defeated a cloture motion that would have killed the filibuster June 4 by a 51-47 vote (60 votes are needed for cloture). Y=W, N=R (DEM: 0-44; REP: 51-3) Wyden's Vote: No |
Right
Vote |
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MEDICARE/ELIGIBILITY
AGE
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| The budget reconciliation bill (S. 947) called for raising the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67. Such a move would dramatically increase the number of older Americans without health insurance, including many older workers whose employers have reduced or eliminated health care coverage. It would hike the cost of retiree health care coverage and employers would shift more costs to their retirees or drop coverage altogether. The AFL-CIO backed a procedural rule that would have stripped the Medicare language from the bill, but on June 24 the Senate voted 62-38 to waive that rule. Y=W, N=R (DEM: 12-33; REP: 50-5) Wyden's Vote: No |
Right
Vote |
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MEDICARE/MEANS
TESTING
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| A provision in the budget reconciliation bill called for means testing on Medicare deductibles. That would penalize the sick and elderly and raise little money. An amendment to eliminate means testing was offered, but the Senate voted to table, or kill, the amendment June 24 by a 70-30 vote. Y=W, N=R (DEM: 21-24; REP: 49-6) Wyden's Vote: No |
Right
Vote |
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TAX
CUTS FOR THE WEALTHY
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| The Senate’s tax reconciliation bill (H.R. 2015--it carried the House bill number) contained big tax breaks for wealthy individuals and corporations--such as capital gains and estate tax reductions--but few meaningful reductions for working families. The Senate passed the bill June 27 by an 81-17 vote. Y=W, N=R (DEM: 29-14; REP: 52-3) Wyden's Vote: Yes |
Wrong
Vote |
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EDUCATION
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| While school vouchers might allow a privileged few access to quality education, they would undermine the public education system that is designed to aid all children. Public education must be improved and the AFL-CIO and the Teachers have fought hard to raise standards and improve student achievement. But school vouchers would drain funds from public education and stymie efforts to make public schools better. The Senate staged a filibuster over an amendment to the FY 1998 District of Columbia appropriations bill calling for a school voucher system in the nation’s capital. A cloture motion to end the filibuster was defeated 58-41 (60 votes were needed) Sept. 30. Y=W, N=R (DEM: 4-40; REP: 54-1) Wyden's Vote: No |
Right
Vote |
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FAST
TRACK
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| One of the biggest AFL-CIO grassroots campaigns ever helped derail Fast Track trade legislation last year. Hundreds of rallies around the nation, 800,000 phone calls and 750,000 postcards let Congress know trade deals must include tough worker and environmental protections. While S. 1269 had sanctions for nations that violate property rights, human and work rights were not protected. Under Fast Track, Congress couldn’t vote to improve a trade treaty, just to approve or disapprove the entire deal. Fast Track was heavily backed by business with $5.5 million in television and radio ads in 104 congressional districts. But in the Senate, Fast Track opponents staged a filibuster against a motion to bring the bill to floor. However, the Senate voted to kill the filibuster 69-31 on Nov. 4. Y=W, N=R (DEM: 26-19; REP: 43-12) Wyden's Vote: Yes |
Wrong
Vote |
| Voting record compiled and provided by the AFL-CIO. |