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S. 1580: Protecting America's Workers Act

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S. 1580: Protecting America's Workers Act

111th Congress · introduced 2009-08-05 · Labor and Employment · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2009-08-05 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Sen. Kennedy, Edward M. [D-MA] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Protecting America's Workers Act

Plain summary

Protecting America's Workers Act - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to expand its coverage to federal, state, and local government employees. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor, under specified conditions, to cede OSHA jurisdiction to another federal agency with respect to certain occupational standards or regulations for such agency's employees. Declares OSHA inapplicable to working conditions covered by the Federal Mine Safety and Heath Act of 1977. Sets forth increased protections for whistle blowers under OSHA. Sets forth provisions relating to: (1) the posting of employee rights; (2) a prohibition against the adoption or implementation of policies or practices by employers that discourage the reporting of work-related injuries or illnesses or that discriminate or provide for adverse action against any employee for reporting such injury or illness; (3) a prohibition against the loss of wages or employee benefits as a result of an employee participating in or aiding workplace inspections; (4) investigations of incidents in a place of employment resulting in a death or the hospitalization of two or more employees; (5) a prohibition against designating a citation for an occupational health and safety standard violation as an unclassified citation; (6) the rights of an employee who has sustained a work-related injury or illness that is the subject of an investigation; (7) an employer's right to contest citations and penalties; (8) the Secretary's assertion of an employer's failure to correct a serious hazard during an employer's contest to a citation; and (9) employee objections to modifications of citations. Increases civil and criminal penalties for certain OSHA violators. Requires a state that has an approved plan for the development and enforcement of occupational safety and health standards to amend its plan to conform to the requirements of this Act within 12 months after enactment of this Act.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Protecting America's Workers Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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The strongest published arguments

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Kennedy, Edward M. [D-MA] · 24 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Patty Murray (D-WA), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (2)
Jurisdiction
The area or the matters a government or court has authority over.
Rulemaking
The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong111-s1580 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong111 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong111