NLRB jurisdiction shrinks 10-fold; workers at smaller firms lose federal labor protections

What it does

This bill increases the dollar thresholds that determine when the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) can assert jurisdiction over labor disputes. Starting in 2026, it multiplies current thresholds by 10, then adjusts them annually for inflation using a personal consumption expenditure index. The effect is to shrink the NLRB's reach: employers below the new, much higher thresholds will fall outside federal labor-law enforcement, leaving workers at smaller firms with reduced access to NLRB protections and remedies.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is a 10x increase in NLRB jurisdiction thresholds, which functionally shrinks the Board's authority over labor disputes. This is a deregulatory measure disguised as a technical adjustment; the title 'Small Businesses before Bureaucrats' frames it as pro-business relief, but the effect is to remove federal labor protections from workers at firms above the new threshold.

What the text implies

• The 10x multiplier is not indexed to inflation or any economic metric for 2026 — it is a fixed, one-time jump that may render the NLRB effectively powerless over entire sectors. A firm with $500k in revenue (currently subject to NLRB jurisdiction) would need $5M to trigger coverage.
• By shifting labor disputes out of the NLRB's federal forum, workers lose access to the Board's specialized expertise, faster resolution timelines, and remedies (reinstatement, back pay, cease-and-desist orders). State courts and arbitration are slower, costlier, and often favor employers.
• The bill creates a new annual indexing obligation on the Bureau of Economic Analysis (a technical/administrative cost), but the index itself is a consumption-based measure, not a wage or labor-market measure — it may not track the actual economic conditions facing workers or small employers.
• The effective date (January 1, 2026, or date of enactment, whichever is later) means the threshold jump could occur mid-fiscal year, creating uncertainty for employers and workers about coverage status.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Workers at employers below the new thresholds lose access to NLRB protections, remedies, and dispute resolution. The 10x multiplier is a dramatic contraction of federal labor-law coverage, shifting disputes away from a neutral federal forum to state courts or private arbitration, where workers typically have fewer resources and weaker bargaining power.

Who stands to gain

• small and mid-sized employers (those currently subject to NLRB jurisdiction but above the new thresh
• employers in industries with high unionization rates or frequent labor disputes

Named in the bill

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), National Labor Relations Act, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce, Personal Consumption Expenditure Per Capita Index

Where it stands

• Nov 5, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Nov 5, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Dec 2025 to Dec 2025. Those filings disclosed $760,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 94 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Markwayne Mullin, the sponsor, reported $968,756 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• AFL-CIO — $760,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jan 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.