Fairness in Filing Act

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Bill ID: 119/s/3116
Last Updated: November 7, 2025

Sponsored by

Sen. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA]

ID: C001075

Follow the money

The bill

Fairness in Filing Act

S. 3116, 119th Congress — read as touching Labor Unions.

The sponsor

Sen. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA]

Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.

The money

$162,500 raised

20 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.

The alignment

70% match to Project 2025

This bill's text tracks the "Department of Labor and Related Agencies" section, p. 633-635 of the Mandate for Leadership.

Bill's Journey to Becoming a Law

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Committee Review

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Passed Senate

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Became Law

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1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.

2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.

3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.

4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.

5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.

6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.

7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!

Bill Summary

Another masterpiece of legislative theater. The "Fairness in Filing Act" - because who doesn't love a good oxymoron? Let's dissect this farce and expose the real disease beneath.

**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The bill's sponsors, Cassidy and Tuberville, claim to want to restrict "unfair labor practice charges that are not filed in good faith or are frivolous." How noble. In reality, they're trying to strangle workers' ability to report legitimate grievances by imposing onerous documentation requirements and penalties for "bad faith" filings.

**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill amends the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) in three ways:

1. It adds a "good faith" requirement for filing charges, which is code for "we don't trust workers to tell the truth." 2. It demands that filers provide documentation or certification of evidence, because apparently, workers are too stupid to know what constitutes legitimate proof. 3. It introduces penalties for "bad faith" or frivolous filings, including a $5,000 fine - a nice little deterrent to keep workers from speaking up.

**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The usual suspects:

* Workers: The ones who'll be silenced by this bill's draconian requirements and penalties. * Employers: The ones who'll benefit from the reduced ability of workers to report unfair labor practices. * Lobbyists: The ones who likely wrote this bill in exchange for campaign contributions.

**Potential Impact & Implications:** This bill is a classic case of "legislative lupus" - it's a disease that masquerades as a cure. By restricting workers' ability to file complaints, the bill will:

* Embolden employers to engage in unfair labor practices with impunity. * Increase the burden on workers to prove their cases, making it harder for them to seek justice. * Create a chilling effect, discouraging workers from reporting legitimate grievances.

In short, this bill is a thinly veiled attempt to gut workers' rights and empower corporate interests. The real disease here is the corruption and cowardice of our politicians, who are more interested in serving their donors than protecting the people they're supposed to represent.

Related Topics

Labor & Employment Policy
Generated using Llama 3.1 70B (Dr. Haus personality)

💰 Campaign Finance Network

Sen. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA]

Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle

Total Contributions
$162,500
20 donors
PACs
$0
Organizations
$0
Committees
$0
Individuals
$162,500

No PAC contributions found

No organization contributions found

No committee contributions found

1
YAWITZ, JESS B. MR.
1 transaction
$14,000
2
MANDELBLATT, DANIELLE
1 transaction
$9,900
3
MANDELBLATT, ERIC
1 transaction
$9,900
4
JAYASINGHE, SAMAN K. DR.
1 transaction
$9,900
5
KARP, ALEXANDER C.
1 transaction
$9,900
6
OBERNDORF, SUSAN
1 transaction
$9,900
7
OBERNDORF, WILLIAM
1 transaction
$9,900
8
YAWITZ, ALICE G.
1 transaction
$9,900
9
GRIGSBY, BOBBI F. MRS.
1 transaction
$6,600
10
GRIGSBY, L. LANE MR.
1 transaction
$6,600
11
GOLDEN, GRADY CARLTON MR. JR.
1 transaction
$6,600
12
MYERS, GINGER
1 transaction
$6,600
13
MYERS, KEITH MR.
1 transaction
$6,600
14
GATES, MELINDA FRENCH
1 transaction
$6,600
15
MEHLMAN, KENNETH B.
1 transaction
$6,600
16
HAGER, SUSAN
1 transaction
$6,600
17
PANDE, VIJAY
1 transaction
$6,600
18
ROM, COLIN
1 transaction
$6,600
19
KAPLAN, JONATHAN L.
1 transaction
$6,600
20
KAY, ALISON
1 transaction
$6,600

Donor Network - Sen. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA]

PACs
Organizations
Individuals
Politicians

Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.

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Showing 52 nodes and 20 connections (46 secondary connections hidden)

Total contributions: $162,500

Top Donors - Sen. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA]

Showing top 20 donors by contribution amount

20 Individuals

Industry Impact

Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 2 harmed.

  • −Labor Unionsconfidence 0.90

    Section 2(b) amends NLRA to require evidence for filing unfair labor practice charges and imposes penalties for filing bad faith or frivolous charges, which makes it harder for unions to file ULPs and subjects them to fines, thus harming labor unions.

  • −Teachers Unionsconfidence 0.85

    Same provisions apply to any union filing ULPs, including teachers unions, imposing documentation requirements and potential fines for frivolous filings, harming their ability to enforce labor rights.

Project 2025 Policy Matches

This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document.AI-enhanced analysis provides detailed alignment ratings.

Department of Labor and Related Agencies

Moderate
Vector: 61%
Pages: 633-635AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The Fairness in Filing Act aligns with Project 2025's goal of increasing accountability and efficiency in labor-related processes, particularly through requiring documentation and deterring frivolous claims, which mirrors the emphasis on transparency and enforcement seen in the OLMS and NLRB reform proposals."

Key themes:labor dispute efficiencyevidence-based claimsNLRB enforcementtransparency in filingsdeterrence of abuse

— 600 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise of state or local employees are exempt from this filing requirement. These dis- closure requirements help workers and the public understand how union leaders are raising and spending union dues; they also can serve as a vital source of infor- mation that helps workers decide if the unions they are asked to join are good stewards of the funds they collect. DOL, under both George W. Bush and Donald Trump, tried rulemakings (known as the Intermediate Bodies Rule) that would require some government unions to file the same information that is required of private-sector unions. Under President Trump, OLMS required unions to disclose involvement in trusts that they either own a majority stake in or control. In the past, union trust spending has been hidden, and it appears that trust assets have occasionally been corruptly spent for the benefit of private interests in union leadership— such as $30,000 spent on a private party, $37,500 spent on a Montblanc pen, condominiums for those in power, golf outings, and a Ferrari.20 But the Biden DOL eliminated a transparency rule requiring the filing of the T-1 Trust Annual Report. More generally, OLMS, which is charged with enforcing the law of union dis- closure, has historically been underfunded when compared to other DOL agencies. This relative lack of funding has made ensuring disclosure more difficult. l Enact transparency rules. The substance of the Intermediate Bodies Rule should pass into law, either through rulemaking or through legislation. The T-1 Trust Annual Report annual filing requirement should be restored. l Increase funding levels. Congress should expand the funding of the Office of Labor-Management Standards. Duty of Fair Representation. Unions have a duty of fair representation to their members, yet they too often abuse that duty to use their members’ resources on left-wing culture-war issues that are unrelated, and in fact often harmful, to union members’ own interests. l The NLRB should take enforcement or amicus action advancing the position that political conflicts of interest by union leadership can support claims for breach of the duty of fair representation in a manner analogous to financial conflicts of interest and analogous to breaches of the fiduciary duty of loyalty in other areas of law. Interpreting “Protected Concerted Activity.” In an effort to prevent employers from retaliating against workers who express a desire to unionize, cer- tain activities are deemed “protected concerted activity” (under §7 of the NLRA). — 601 — Department of Labor and Related Agencies The NLRB has issued extreme interpretations of these activities, such as deter- mining that a business’s requiring its employees to be courteous to customers and one another is an unlawful infringement on the free speech rights implicit in the protected concerted activity protections in the NLRA. l Reverse unreasonable interpretations of “protected concerted activity.” The NLRB should return to the 2019 Alstate Maintenance interpretation of what does and does not constitute protected concerted activity, including listing eight instances of lawful actions by employers. Injunctive Relief and Worker Organizing Activities. Within the confines of the more reasonable definition of protected concerted activity described above, the NLRB should increase its pursuit of reinstatement injunctions. Firing work- ers engaged in concerted activity has an immediate chilling effect on organizing, but remedies under the NLRA typically come only much later and amount only to backpay. In NLRA section 10(j), Congress empowered the NLRB to obtain temporary injunctions that immediately reinstate workers to their jobs in these circumstances. This provides a more meaningful remedy to the worker and creates a significant deterrent to unfair labor practices, because prompt reinstatement will tend to reinforce the legitimacy of the organizing effort. The NLRB overwhelmingly prevails when pursuing an injunction, succeeding 100 percent of the time in 2020 and 91 percent of the time in 2021. l Increase the use of 10(j) injunctive relief. The NLRB should increase its use of 10(j) and should articulate guidelines for situations in which it intends to seek injunctive relief; the board should delegate authority to pursue such injunctions to the general counsel and the general counsel should establish a policy of considering them expeditiously in all retaliation cases identified by regional offices. Dues-Funded Worker Centers. Under current law, both labor unions and unionized employers must file financial disclosures with DOL on an annual basis to ward off potential fraud and corruption of the sort that has been seen recently within the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW). However, worker centers, which have grown in number and influ- ence enormously over the past decade, are not required to file these disclosures. l Investigate worker centers and require financial disclosures. DOL should investigate worker centers that look and act like unions and bring enforcement actions to require them to file the same financial disclosures.

Department of Labor and Related Agencies

Weak
Vector: 63%
Pages: 624-626AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The Fairness in Filing Act focuses on reducing frivolous labor practice charges under the NLRA, while the Project 2025 policy excerpt emphasizes independent contractor classification, joint employer standards, and overtime rules under the FLSA and NLRB jurisdiction. Though both involve the NLRB and labor regulation, their substantive objectives differ significantly."

Key themes:NLRBlabor regulationNLRAemployer-employee relations

— 591 — Department of Labor and Related Agencies qualify as an independent contractor or employee under the FLSA and NLRA. The Biden Administration is replacing those rules with vague and expansive definitions that would add uncertainty, increase costs, and reduce options for Americans who want to work independently. l NLRB and DOL should return to their 2019 and 2021 independent contractor rules that provided much-needed clarity for workers and employers. l Congress should establish a bright-line test—based on the level of control an individual exercises over his or her work—to determine whether a payee is an employee or an independent contractor, across all relevant laws. This would prevent continued uncertainty as well as provide continuity across federal laws. l Congress should provide a safe harbor from employer-employee status for companies that offer independent workers access to earned benefits. Doing so would increase access among independent contractors to traditional pooled workplace benefits such as health care and retirement savings accounts. Protect Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship (Joint Employer). Millions of busi- nesses across America engage in mutually beneficial affiliation arrangements with other businesses. These arrangements include janitorial services, staffing firms, construction contractors and subcontractors, technology support services, and many other vendor and contracting services. They also include the nearly 775,000 independently owned franchise businesses, which employ 8.2 million workers across the United States. The franchise structure offers a proven business model for individuals who want to own and operate their own small business. An Obama-era regulation changed the definition of a joint employer to make corporate franchi- sors jointly liable for employees of individual franchisee owners, even without the franchisor exercising any direct control over those employees. The Biden Admin- istration is advancing an even more expansive definition of a joint employer that would upend the franchise business model, taking away ownership and income opportunities from small-business entrepreneurs, costing jobs, and raising prices. l DOL and NLRB should return to the long-standing approach to defining joint employers based on direct and immediate control. l Congress should enact the Save Local Business Act, which would codify the long-standing definition that has existed outside the Obama-era and Biden-proposed rules. — 592 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise Overtime Pay Threshold. Overtime pay is one of the most challenging aspects of the Fair Labor Standards Act rules. “Nonexempt workers” (e.g., workers whose job duties fall within the law’s power or whose total pay is low enough) must be paid overtime (150 percent of the “regular rate”) for every hour over 40 in a work- week. Overtime requirements may discourage employers from offering certain fringe benefits such as reimbursement for education, childcare, or even free meals because the benefits’ value may be included in the “regular rate” that must be paid at 150 percent for all overtime hours. And because some of these fringe ben- efits may be more valuable (and often come with tax preferences that benefit the worker), the goal should be to set a threshold to ensure lower-income workers have the protections of overtime pay without discouraging employers from offering these benefits. l DOL should maintain an overtime threshold that does not punish businesses in lower-cost regions (e.g., the southeast United States). The Trump-era threshold is high enough to capture most line workers in lower-cost regions. One possibility to consider (likely requiring congressional action) would be to automatically update the thresholds every five years using the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) as an inflation adjustment. This could reduce the likelihood of a future Administration attempting to make significant changes but would also impose more adjustments on businesses as those automatic increases take hold. l Congress should clarify that the “regular rate” for overtime pay is based on the salary paid rather than all benefits provided. This would enable employers to offer additional benefits to employees without fear that those benefits would dramatically increase overtime pay. l Congress should provide flexibility to employers and employees to calculate the overtime period over a longer number of weeks. Specifically, employers and employees should be able to set a two- or four- week period over which to calculate overtime. This would give workers greater flexibility to work more hours in one week and fewer hours in the next and would not require the employer to pay them more for that same total number of hours of work during the entire period. Compliance-Assistance Programming. Labor agencies are often tempted to encourage “over compliance” by companies subject to regulation by pursuing “regulation through enforcement” strategies. Rather than giving regulated enti- ties clear boundaries for what they can and cannot do under the law, the agencies

Department of Labor and Related Agencies

Weak
Vector: 62%
Pages: 624-626AI Enhanced

AI Analysis:

"The Fairness in Filing Act focuses on reducing frivolous unfair labor practice charges under the NLRA, while the Project 2025 policy excerpt centers on independent contractor classification and joint employer standards—distinct areas of labor law with no direct thematic overlap."

Key themes:National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)labor dispute resolutionemployer-employee relations

— 591 — Department of Labor and Related Agencies qualify as an independent contractor or employee under the FLSA and NLRA. The Biden Administration is replacing those rules with vague and expansive definitions that would add uncertainty, increase costs, and reduce options for Americans who want to work independently. l NLRB and DOL should return to their 2019 and 2021 independent contractor rules that provided much-needed clarity for workers and employers. l Congress should establish a bright-line test—based on the level of control an individual exercises over his or her work—to determine whether a payee is an employee or an independent contractor, across all relevant laws. This would prevent continued uncertainty as well as provide continuity across federal laws. l Congress should provide a safe harbor from employer-employee status for companies that offer independent workers access to earned benefits. Doing so would increase access among independent contractors to traditional pooled workplace benefits such as health care and retirement savings accounts. Protect Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship (Joint Employer). Millions of busi- nesses across America engage in mutually beneficial affiliation arrangements with other businesses. These arrangements include janitorial services, staffing firms, construction contractors and subcontractors, technology support services, and many other vendor and contracting services. They also include the nearly 775,000 independently owned franchise businesses, which employ 8.2 million workers across the United States. The franchise structure offers a proven business model for individuals who want to own and operate their own small business. An Obama-era regulation changed the definition of a joint employer to make corporate franchi- sors jointly liable for employees of individual franchisee owners, even without the franchisor exercising any direct control over those employees. The Biden Admin- istration is advancing an even more expansive definition of a joint employer that would upend the franchise business model, taking away ownership and income opportunities from small-business entrepreneurs, costing jobs, and raising prices. l DOL and NLRB should return to the long-standing approach to defining joint employers based on direct and immediate control. l Congress should enact the Save Local Business Act, which would codify the long-standing definition that has existed outside the Obama-era and Biden-proposed rules.

Showing 3 of 5 policy matches

About These Correlations

Policy matches are calculated using a hybrid approach: initial candidates are found using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text, then an AI model (Llama 3.1 70B) provides detailed alignment ratings and analysis. Ratings range from 1 (minimal alignment) to 5 (very strong alignment). This analysis does not imply direct causation or intent.

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