In in 1933, Congress passed the National Industrial Recovery Act in order to authorize the President to regulate industry. This was all in an attempt to raise prices after severe deflation to ultimately stimulate economic recovery. The act established a program called the Public Works Administration. By 1934 the National Recovery Administration was engaged in drawing up the industrial codes for all industries to adopt. However in 1935, the Supreme Court declared the NRA unconstitutional and was not replaced. In June 1933, the legislation was enacted during the Great Depression. This was a part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal legislative program. The bill protected collective bargaining rights for unions, and proved pretty controversial. Yet both chambers ended up passing the legislation. The Act was mainly devoted to industrial recovery. It authorized the promotion of industrial codes of fair competition, guaranteed trade union rights, permitted the regulation of working standards, and regulated the price of certain refined petroleum products and their transportation – it also established the PWA and outlined the funding opportunities it could engage in.
https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=66
This is a really clear description of the National Industrial Act and the process it went through to become enacted. It is interesting how it is focused very much on the rights of the workers. Why was it first considered unconstitutional?
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