On the recordJune 25, 2013
We hear stories like that all the time when we're home. We had one in the Energy and Commerce Committee when we had a gentleman who had a chain of restaurants he's developing in New England, which isn't where I'm from, but he was before the committee. His testimony was that he had eight restaurants and planned to open a ninth, and he decided he had to wait because he has no idea what this health care bill is going to cost him when he has to provide health care for his employees. Of the net income of his eight restaurants, he estimated--if he could come up with it because, as we know, you still don't know exactly what the health care bill is going to look like. We know what the bill looks like, but what we don't know is what's really in it because the rules have not come out to say what you have to provide your employees. It's supposed to happen in October and be ready for January 1. So he has decided to just not open a restaurant until this gets implemented so he can then move forward. He said it's going to take half of his net income, he has estimated, if what's in the rules comes out. If you've ever been in business, it's something you always take home, but if you're growing a business, hoping to open a ninth, 10th, and so on and create a chain, the net income is what you put into the business to grow the business and move forward.…
