Reports surfaced the week of April 5 that Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh asked OSHA to further review its pending Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) prior to release.

On March 12, OSHA issued a COVID-19 National Emphasis Program (NEP) targeting specific high-hazard industries or activities where workers have an increased potential exposure to COVID.

Having begun the process on Feb. 22, the U.S. House and Senate have moved through a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package within just three weeks. This puts us on track to spend roughly $5 trillion on stimulus and COVID efforts in 12 months since the CARES Act passed in March 2020.

Democrats on Capitol Hill are quickly pushing through a $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill without much standing in their way other than members of their own party. Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives intend to pass the legislation championed by President Biden no later than February 28, at which point the Senate will begin consideration of the bill.

Rumors had long circulated throughout Washington, D.C. that the incoming Biden administration would take steps to create a new workplace safety policy with uniform OSHA guidelines for employers. On January 21, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order directing OSHA to issue revised guidance to employers on workplace safety during the COVID-19 pandemic and an Emergency Temporary Standard, if necessary, by March 15.

On January 20, President Biden began his term in office as expected with a flurry of executive actions, many with a focus on changing the regulatory rulemaking process and environmental policy.

On January 5, 2021, the EPA continued its 11th hour rulemaking by releasing its “secret-science” policy, formally known as the “Strengthening Transparency in Pivotal Science Underlying Significant Regulatory Actions and Influential Scientific Information” rule. Pending for several years, the first-draft rule generated over 600,000 public comments, among the most in recent EPA history. The final rule requires researchers and others to disclose the raw data and other information and methodologies used to justify policymaking. The rule applies not only to significant regulatory actions but also to “influential scientific information” released. Business groups during the Obama administration had argued that the EPA used data not revealed to the public when creating significant new regulations impacting industry.

After six months of negotiations, Washington has come to agreement and passed a 5,593-page bill providing COVID relief to businesses, renewing and expanding the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program loans while allowing for a second PPP draw, permitting the deduction of PPP expenses and extending more tax relief to employers. Reversing the IRS decision and allowing PPP loan recipients to deduct their expenses was a top priority for businesses facing a surprise tax penalty of up to 37%.

The U.S. Congress is moving a bill extending government spending for one more week to prevent a federal government shutdown until Friday, December 18 at 11:59 p.m. (ET). Lawmakers hope the one-week delay will allow time to negotiate a COVID-19 relief package and a broader $1.4 trillion federal government-spending measure.