Political Quotes

On the recordJanuary 6, 2015
today, Senator Donnelly and I are reintroducing the Forty Hours is Full-time Act to correct a serious flaw in the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, that is already causing workers to have their hours reduced and their pay cut. We are pleased to be joined in this bipartisan effort by Senators Murkowski and Manchin. Our legislation would raise the threshold for ``full-time'' work in Obamacare to the standard 40 hours a week. This is consistent with the threshold for overtime eligibility under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the common-sense understanding of ``full- time'' work. Under Obamacare, an employee working just 30 hours a week is defined as ``full-time,'' a definition that is completely out-of-step with standard employment practices in the U.S. today. According to a survey published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American actually works 8.7 hours per day, which equates to roughly 44 hours a week. The Obamacare definition is nearly one-third lower than actual practice. Similarly, the Obamacare definition of ``full-time'' employee is ten hours a week fewer than the 40 hours per week used by the GAO in its study of the budget and staffing required by the IRS to implement Obamacare. In that report, the GAO described a ``full-time equivalent'' as: ``a measure of staff hours equal to those of an employee who works 2,080 hours per year, or 40 hours per week. . .…
Said by
Susan Collins
Republican · Maine
Source
govinfo.gov
Jan 6, 2015

Share

More from Susan Collins

Aug 16, 2026

Relocating Portland’s station to the mainline is a commonsense investment that will mean shorter trips, fewer delays, and better connections for passengers traveling throughout Maine and New England.

king.senate.gov
Jul 31, 2026

Senator Collins asked the OMB to withdraw parts of the rule that would unduly burden scientific and biomedical research and small communities.

propublica.org
Jul 16, 2026

But to be fair to the Department of Homeland Security, they couldn’t enter into contracts when the government was shut down by the Democrats.

huffpost.com
Jul 16, 2026

“I believe that all of us must avoid that kind of dangerous and disturbing rhetoric, because it could in fact trigger violence,” Collins added.

huffpost.com

Other voices in this conversation