When most Americans think about what it is that a president does every day, they tend to think about the things that make the headlines: big speeches, bill signing events, the stances they take on high-profile controversies, the image they project to the rest of the world, and the gossip that surrounds their family and staff and their own personality quirks and inclinations.
Seldom, sadly, do they contemplate something that’s quite arguably much more important and impactful to the day-today lives of the nation’s 300-plus million inhabitants: the work of the people the president selects to run the day-to-day operations of the federal government.
This fact was brought home again repeatedly in a period of just a few days last week as the Biden administration announced a series of enormously important and lightly reported new rules and regulations to protect workers, seniors, and the global environment.
Consider the following:
Expanding overtime pay: On April 23, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a final rule that will make roughly 4 million lower-paid salaried workers who are employed in executive, administrative or professional jobs eligible for overtime pay.
As Ariana Figueroa of States Newsroom reported, the math is a little complicated — but what it boils down to is that the department will update salary levels and methodologies used to compute who is eligible for overtime pay under federal law. One million workers will benefit on July 1 and 3 million more will benefit on Jan. 1, 2025.
Improving nursing homes: The overtime rule change came one day after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services introduced a new set of regulations that will require nursing homes to improve their staffing ratios.
As Clark Kauffman of the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported, the new regulations establish for the first time national minimum staffing requirements for nursing homes that collect taxpayer money through Medicare- and Medicaid-funded services.
And while nursing home corporations are already complaining, the administration believes and makes a compelling case that by improving working conditions and wages, improvements in the recruitment and retention of direct care workers will follow — something that will enable nursing staff to provide safer, higher quality care to all residents.
Attacking the climate emergency: By any fair estimation, the single greatest threat to the long-term security and well-being of average Americans (and in some instances, their near-term security and well-being, given the growing intensity and frequency of severe weather) is the global climate emergency.
And while it’s undeniable that American political leaders of both major parties have been destructively negligent on this front, it’s also true that the Biden administration has outpaced all previous administrations in the effort and resources it has devoted to tackling the crisis.
This truth was on display recently when the Environmental Protection Agency released a set of long-overdue rules that will cut air, water and land pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants — particularly coal plants. As Robert Zullo of States Newsroom reported, coal plants whose operators plan to operate them beyond 2039 will have to capture 90% of their carbon emissions by 2032.
This will be a big change — so big that the pro-coal lobby has already blasted the proposal and will no doubt spend millions on lawyers in an attempt to block it in the courts.
Last week’s announcements were also far from the only ones of their kind — even in recent days.
On April 12, the administration announced a plan to cancel student loans for 277,000 more borrowers nationwide, including 8,100 individuals from North Carolina. As Newsline’s Ahmed Jallow reported, the announcement brought the total loan forgiveness approved by the administration to $153 billion for nearly 4.3 million Americans, accounting for more than 9% of all student loan debt. This figure includes $3.9 billion for 82,410 people in North Carolina.
This occurred just a day after the administration finalized a new rule that will require anyone selling a gun to obtain a federal license and conduct background checks. As Newsline reported, the new rule will close what’s known as the “gun show loophole” — a hole in federal law that exempts gun merchants who sell online, by mail or at flea markets and gun shows from the federal regulations that apply to those who own and operate gun stores as their main source of income.
None of new these rules and regulations were developed and promulgated without controversy and resistance. All are likely to face legal challenges that will take time to resolve. A second Trump administration would likely seek the swift repeal of each. That’s how things work in a nation of laws and elections.
But it’s also important to note that if and when they do take full and lasting effect, each of these new rules and regulations represents an enormously important accomplishment and an example of a president directly improving the lives of millions of average Americans in very tangible ways.
Would that most Americans were well-informed enough to be aware of such actions and weigh them heavily when helping to choose our next president.
NC Newsline Editor Rob Schofield oversees day-to-day newsroom operations, authors regular commentaries, and hosts a weekly radio show/podcast. Republished from ncnewsline.com.
