Uploaded March 2018 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
The 1994 November midterm elections resulted in Republicans winning control of both the House and the Senate. This election marked a dramatic turning point in the political fortunes of OSHA, as the Republicans sought regulatory reform through legislative and budgetary channels. This is clipped from a 50-minute video from an OSHA all-staff meeting with Assistant Secretary for OSHA Joe Dear describing the changing politics facing the Agency in February 1995. The Republicans pursued dual legislative tracks, seeking passage of sweeping regulatory relief that had been a key component of their “Contract with America” while also pursuing overhaul legislation targeted at OSHA. Republican led Congressional committee’s contemplated legislation that sought to severely restrict inspections, mandate cost/benefit analyses, and transform the agency into just an advisory body. Department of Labor and OSHA officials championed the Clinton administration’s opposition to the OSHA reform bills in Congress. OSHA Assistant Secretary Dear criticized the regulatory reform proposals as dangerous for worker safety and unnecessary in light of the internal agency policy reforms brought on by the reinvention process. The GOP assault on the agency managed to draw concessions from OSHA leaders on several matters relating to cooperative enforcement. Many of the concessions could be found in the “New OSHA” mandate, which the administration unveiled after the GOP took control of Congress. Dear also moderated his stance on agency activism by testifying about the agency’s commitment to cooperative partnerships and compliance assistance initiatives. He pledged that the new OSHA would strip away unnecessary regulations and minimize inspector attention on minor violations. By the end of the 104th Congress, no major OSHA overhaul bills had become law. The GOP bills, lacking support from any Democrats and facing defections from some moderate Republicans, failed to attract majority support and fell well short of the support needed to prevent a Senate filibuster or to override a promised presidential veto. Joseph Dear was the ninth Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, serving from April 1993 to January 1997. Dear had been director of the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (the State OSHA program). While defending OSHA against legislative attempts to alter the scope of its authority, Dear initiated negotiated rulemaking and implemented an increased minimum penalty for willful violations and a new non-formal complaint process. For a good summary OSHA under peril in 1995, read the 1997 article, The New OSHA at
govexec.com/magazine/1997/05/the-new-osha/327/.
The 1994 November midterm elections resulted in Republicans winning control of both the House and the Senate. This election marked a dramatic turning point in the political fortunes of OSHA, as the Republicans sought regulatory reform through legislative and budgetary channels. This is clipped from a 50-minute video from an OSHA all-staff meeting with Assistant Secretary for OSHA Joe Dear describing the changing politics facing the Agency in February 1995. The Republicans pursued dual legislative tracks, seeking passage of sweeping regulatory relief that had been a key component of their “Contract with America” while also pursuing overhaul legislation targeted at OSHA. Republican led Congressional committee’s contemplated legislation that sought to severely restrict inspections, mandate cost/benefit analyses, and transform the agency into just an advisory body. Department of Labor and OSHA officials championed the Clinton administration’s opposition to the OSHA reform bills in Congress. OSHA Assistant Secretary Dear criticized the regulatory reform proposals as dangerous for worker safety and unnecessary in light of the internal agency policy reforms brought on by the reinvention process. The GOP assault on the agency managed to draw concessions from OSHA leaders on several matters relating to cooperative enforcement. Many of the concessions could be found in the “New OSHA” mandate, which the administration unveiled after the GOP took control of Congress. Dear also moderated his stance on agency activism by testifying about the agency’s commitment to cooperative partnerships and compliance assistance initiatives. He pledged that the new OSHA would strip away unnecessary regulations and minimize inspector attention on minor violations. By the end of the 104th Congress, no major OSHA overhaul bills had become law. The GOP bills, lacking support from any Democrats and facing defections from some moderate Republicans, failed to attract majority support and fell well short of the support needed to prevent a Senate filibuster or to override a promised presidential veto. Joseph Dear was the ninth Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, serving from April 1993 to January 1997. Dear had been director of the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (the State OSHA program). While defending OSHA against legislative attempts to alter the scope of its authority, Dear initiated negotiated rulemaking and implemented an increased minimum penalty for willful violations and a new non-formal complaint process. For a good summary OSHA under peril in 1995, read the 1997 article, The New OSHA at
govexec.com/magazine/1997/05/the-new-osha/327/.
