Democrats in the House of Representatives recently released their proposal for a fourth major response package, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act. Among other things, the bill gives select agencies the power to regulate aspects of broad sectors of the economy in the name of safety and preparedness, note AAF’s Director of Regulatory Policy Dan Bosch and Senior Regulatory Policy Analyst Dan Goldbeck. The bill, however, will likely meet skepticism in the Republican-led Senate.

Their central points:

• The HEROES Act would require new regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Department of Transportation setting protocols for workplace and transportation safety;
• The Act expands the federal government’s authority over the medical supply chain; and
• The Act also repeals language from earlier emergency legislation that provided some relief from family and medical and paid leave requirements in some circumstances.

Read the analysis.