Brad Ellsworth: “my staff and I worked hard with Chairman Miller and his staff to address some important issues with this amendment. My…”

“my staff and I worked hard with Chairman Miller and his staff to address some important issues with this amendment. My amendment would strike from the bill a requirement that penalizes mine operators who have been assessed penalties and pay them in a timely fashion. In its place, the amendment provides the Secretary of Labor with a mechanism to hold accountable those businesses that have a history of delinquent fine payments, while ensuring that honest businesses can contest fines without paying them up front. As written, the underlying bill would require all mines to place the amount of an assessed fine into escrow if they choose to contest that fine. This is intended to ensure that mine operators cannot evade their responsibility to pay fines if they lose that appeal. While I support this important new collection tool, I do not think the bill takes into full account the financial burden that it could create for small businesses that do not have the means to leave funds in escrow while they contest a citation. In Indiana and across the country, there are numerous mine operations that don't have the operating budget to cover such large and unforeseen costs. The small quarry mines in the Midwest and the sand and gravel operations in the South might not have the overhead to freeze thousands of dollars while they appeal the citation. I would hate to see those mines forced to miss a payroll or lay off their hardworking employees because of this provision.”