2018: Fitzpatrick Voted For The $1.3 Trillion FY 2018 Omnibus
Spending Deal Which Raised Spending By $138 Billion Over FY 2017
Levels; Legislation Also Barred Employers From Taking Their Employees
Tips. In March 2018, Fitzpatrick voted for the FY 2018 Omnibus
spending bill. According to Congressional Quarterly, "Combined, the
spending measures would provide about $1.3 trillion in discretionary
spending, with $1.2 trillion subject to discretionary spending caps,
and $78.1 billion designated as Overseas Contingency Operations funds.
The measure's spending levels are consistent with the increased defense
and non-defense budget caps set by the two-year budget deal agreed to
last month. That agreement increased the FY 2018 defense cap by $80
billion and the non-defense cap by $63 billion. Given that the previous
caps were set to reduce overall discretionary spending by $5 billion,
the net increase provided by the omnibus is $138 billion over the FY
2017 level." The vote was on the motion to concur in the Senate
Amendment with an Amendment. The House agreed to the motion, thereby
passing the bill, by a vote of 256 to 167. The Senate later agreed to
the legislation, sending it to the president, who signed it into law.
[House Vote 127,
3/22/18; Congressional
Quarterly, 3/22/18; Congressional
Actions, H.R.
1625]
Bill Included A Policy Rider Barring Employers From Taking Their
Employees Tips. According to Vox, "The bill also bars employers
from taking their workers' tips, holding back a push by Trump's
Labor Secretary Alex Acosta to allow restaurant owners to confiscate
tips if they pay workers minimum wage or above." [Vox,
3/23/18]
In December 2017, Secretary Acosta Proposed A Rule Allowing
Certain Employers To Pool Their Tips And Redistribute Them, Possibly
To Themselves. According to Congressional Quarterly, "The Labor
Department in December 207 proposed a rule that would allow
employers such as restaurant owners to "pool" employee tips and
redistribute them as they saw fit, including potentially to
themselves. The agreement strikes down that part of the Labor
Department rule and expressly prohibits managers or supervisors from
keeping any portion of employees' tips, regardless of whether or
not the employer takes a tip tax credit." [Congressional Quarterly,
3/22/18]