2018: Schweikert Voted Against 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, Schweikert voted against 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]