WASHINGTON, D.C.—Ahead of a “working families summit” to be held at the White House on Monday, U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell (Kentucky), John Thune (South Dakota), Mike Lee (Utah), Deb Fischer (Nebraska), and Tim Scott (South Carolina) today highlighted a handful of bills Republicans have proposed that would immediately help working families, but which are currently buried in Senator Reid’s Senate graveyard. Some of these bills have already passed the House of Representatives in a bipartisan fashion and could be taken up today in the Senate. 

Click on the picture or here to view the senators’ remarks.

Some of the bills Republicans have introduced to help working families include:

Equip workers with skills to advance: The Scott Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills Act, or the SKILLS Act, would transform our broken workforce development and training system into a more responsive and efficient program that will better enable workers to compete in the 21st century economy. (Passed the House in a 215-202 vote)

Restore the 40-hour workweek: The Collins Forty Hours Is Full Time Act would repeal ObamaCare’s 30-hour workweek rule that is causing lower wages and hours for American workers. (Passed the House in a 248-179 vote)

Prevent workplace discrimination: The Fischer Workplace Advancement Amendment would further equip women with the knowledge and tools they need to fight discrimination in the workplace.

Reward hard-working employees: The Rubio Rewarding Achievement and Incentivizing Successful Employees Act, or the RAISE Act, would amend the National Labor Relations Act to allow employers to give merit-based compensation increases to individual employees, even if those increases are not part of a collective bargaining agreement.

Expand workplace flexibility: The Lee Working Families Flexibility Act would help workers handle the constant challenge of work-life balance by allowing private-sector employers to offer all individuals who work overtime a choice between monetary compensation or comp-time. (Passed the House in a 223-204)

Fix a tax flaw that penalizes working parents: The McConnell Working Parents Home Office Act would fix a flaw in the tax code so that men or women who work from home aren’t prevented from claiming a deduction for a home office if that office includes a baby crib so they can care for their child while working.

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