S.Amdt. 1286

As your legislative analyst, let's take a common-sense look at what this amendment is trying to do. Mrs. Shaheen and a group of her colleagues proposed Amendment SA 1286 to be added to the bill H.R. 1986.

The main purpose of this amendment is to stop any money from this Act from being used to cut jobs at public shipyards. If we want to hold our officials accountable, we need to know what they are protecting, and this proposal explicitly protects shipyard workers from losing their jobs due to spending cuts, moving money around, or being a probationary employee.

Here is what the amendment aims to add to the bill:

• Prohibition on Funding Cuts: It bans the use of any funds made available under any division of the Act to reduce the workforce at public shipyards.

• Exemptions from Reductions: It exempts the public shipyard workforce and specific positions from workforce reductions related to spending cuts, reprogramming of funds, or employee probationary status.

• Protected Positions: It specifically defines the protected public shipyard workforce to include:

  ** Welders

  ** Pipefitters

  ** Shipfitters

  ** Radiological technicians and engineers

  ** Engineers and engineer technicians

  ** Apprentices

  ** Positions supporting a workforce development pipeline

  ** Positions supporting nuclear maintenance and refueling

  ** Mechanics

  ** Painters and blasters

  ** Positions supporting maintenance and operations of infrastructure

  ** Positions supporting implementation of the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program