Mark Takano: “I thank my friend and colleague from Virginia, the ranking member, Mr. Scott, for his leadership on this issue. I am…”

“I thank my friend and colleague from Virginia, the ranking member, Mr. Scott, for his leadership on this issue. I am here to express my strong opposition to H.R. 6094. Prior to the Department of Labor taking action this year, the rules governing overtime were woefully out of date. In 1975, 60 percent of salaried workers had access to overtime protections. Four decades later, that number was just 8 percent. The result is that millions of American workers were denied a fair day's pay for a fair day's work for far too long. On numerous occasions, my colleagues across the aisle have conceded that the threshold should be increased, but they say that this increase is too much too soon. Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, an incremental change would have been appropriate three decades ago. Now we need bold action to restore overtime protections for middle class workers. {time} 1845 I find it ironic that this bill is called the Regulatory Relief for Small Businesses, Schools, and Nonprofits Act. After decades of long hours and low pay, it is working families that need relief. This bill takes money out of the pockets of middle class Americans right before the holiday season. In reality, this bill should be called the Grinch Act. The overtime rule will ensure that 4.2 million Americans will have access to overtime protections. An additional 8.9 million workers will see their overtime protections strengthened.…”