U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, made the following statement after the introduction of the Protecting Local Business Opportunity Act, which would protect small businesses from a recent decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to fundamentally change the franchise model for American businesses with severe economic consequences. Chairman Vitter is an original cosponsor of the bill.

“Small businesses – the biggest source of jobs in Louisiana – and many American entrepreneurs are under attack from the agenda-driven NLRB and special interest groups. Their decision to change a proven, successful model of business threatens our economy and puts millions of jobs at risk,” said Vitter. “The Protecting Local Business Opportunity Act makes sure that small businesses have a fair chance at success, and I will continue working to pass common sense policies that support, not undermine, American job creators.”

The Protecting Local Business Opportunity Act, introduced in the Senate by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), would overturn the NLRB’s new standard, which was adopted last month to radically change federal labor policy so that multiple employers will now have to jointly negotiate working conditions with unions and share liability for labor law violations. The board ruled that merely “indirect control” or even “unexercised potential” to control working conditions will now make two separate employers joint employers.

Additional cosponsors include Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

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