The U.S. Senate is moving at deliberate speed toward passing S.63, a bill that would make clear that tribal business operations are not covered by the National Labor Relations Act. According to some reports, two votes are lacking in the 60 needed to move the item forward to a vote.
Fifty-two Republicans are said to favor the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act, but the tribes would need to rustle up eight Democrats to overcome the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.
A similar law was approved in the House Committee on Education and Workforce on June 29. Previously such a bill was approved by the full House.
The issue of whether tribal businesses are subject to the National Labor Relations Board only became an issue in recent years when the NLRB under the Obama administration asserted that businesses operated by tribes—although not tribal government agencies—were subject to federal labor laws.
