Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I am offering legislation correcting Obamacare's definition of a ``full-time'' employee to allow employees to work 40 hours a week without triggering penalties on the businesses that hire them. Currently, Obamacare defines an employee working just 30 hours a week as ``full time.'' Because Obamacare uses an unreasonably low threshold of 30 hours a week to define ``full time'' employees, some businesses are restricting their employees to no more than 29 hours of work per week, to ensure that their workers are considered ``part time'' for purposes of Obamacare. This is a consequence of the substantial penalties Obamacare imposes on businesses that reach a threshold of 50 ``full time'' employees, unless they provide expensive health care coverage which many small businesses simply can't afford. The penalties imposed by Obamacare begin at $40,000 for businesses with 50 employees, plus $2,000 for each additional ``full-time equivalent'' employee. These penalties serve as a huge disincentive for businesses to grow or add jobs, particularly for firms close to the 50- job trigger. One Maine business I know has 47 employees, and it would like to hire more but won't because of these onerous penalties. If more businesses follow suit, millions of American workers could find their hours, and their earnings, cut back. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics nearly 10.5 million Americans work between 30 and 35 hours per week.…”