[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 12 (Monday, January 26, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S462-S463]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RESTORING FULL TIME TO FORTY HOURS

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a copy of 
my remarks from last week's Senate Health, Education, Labor and 
Pensions Committee hearing be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                   Restoring Full-Time to Forty Hours

       Let me start by telling some stories of what's happening in 
     Tennessee:
       In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Middle Tennessee State 
     University has started limiting hours for part-time workers. 
     This means students can no longer accept multiple on-campus 
     work assignments. And graduate assistants might have to wait 
     tables instead of picking up extra on-campus grant-funded 
     research projects that would better further their careers.
       From its headquarters in Knoxville, Regal Entertainment 
     Group, the nation's largest movie theatre chain, announced 
     last year that it was cutting employee hours from 40 to below 
     30 in order to comply with Obamacare. According to a news 
     report, ``One Regal theatre manager [said] the move has 
     sparked a wave of resignations from full-time managers who 
     have seen their hours cut by 25 percent or more.''
       In Johnson City, Pam Cox, the director of finance for 
     Johnson City Public Schools, told a local news outlet about a 
     year ago that her district will have to hire more people to 
     work fewer hours. She said, ``It'll be challenging to find 
     people and it'll also hurt the employees because where 
     they've been able to work as much as they wanted in these 
     types of positions with no benefits attached to it now we're 
     going to be saying, `we can't let you work . . . even though 
     you want to and you're good at your job, we can't give you 
     the hours, give you the pay, because we can't afford to give 
     you the insurance.' ''
       So why are these things happening in Tennessee--and in 
     every other state across the nation?
       Obamacare requires businesses with 50 or more full-time 
     employees to provide health insurance to those employees or 
     pay a penalty at tax time. That penalty is $2,000 for each 
     employee whom the government says should have been covered by 
     an employer plan and $3,000 for every employee who receives a 
     subsidy in the exchange.
       The law, passed without any Republican support, defined 
     full-time as an employee who works more than 30 hours a week. 
     It is a strange definition--one that sounds more like France 
     than the United States.
       The average American between the ages of 25-49 works 8.8 
     hours per day, or 44 hours per week, according to the 
     American Time of Use Survey published by the Bureau of Labor 
     Statistics.
       The Obamacare definition of full-time is nearly one-third 
     lower.
       Many businesses can't afford Obamacare's mandate and must 
     reduce their number of full-time employees.
       The result of all this is that thousands of workers are 
     getting a pay cut. Their work schedules are being reduced to 
     29 hours a week and below.
       This is not enough money for these workers to earn a 
     living. Many must take second jobs.
       A Hoover Institution study found the 30-hour definition 
     puts 2.6 million working-age Americans with a median income 
     under $14,333 for individuals and $30,000 for families at 
     risk of losing jobs and hours. The study found:
       89 percent of those affected don't have a college degree.
       60 percent are between the ages of 19 and 34.
       63 percent of those most at risk of lost hours are women, 
     of which half have a high school diploma or less.
       These are Americans who are often working one of their 
     first jobs, trying to work their way up the economic ladder. 
     You have to start with a lower-paying job, a job that doesn't 
     require as many skills, and hope that someday your hard work 
     will lead to a higher-paying one.
       Many of these Americans are working in service industries, 
     such as hospitality, retail and restaurants. But the 
     Obamacare provision is affecting all kinds of employers.
       In September 2014, Investor's Business Daily reported that 
     at least 451 employers, county governments, public schools, 
     community colleges and universities across the country have 
     laid off staff or reduced employee work hours to comply with 
     the new Obamacare definition of full time.
       Our public schools can't charge higher prices to cover 
     these mandates. They have to cut services like special 
     education, coaches and bus drivers.
       Three surveys published by Federal Reserve Banks in August 
     found employers are increasing their proportion of part-time 
     workers.
       The Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Philadelphia 
     specifically asked manufacturers what changes they had made 
     because of Obamacare, and in both cities, nearly 1 in 5 
     respondents reported that they had increased their proportion 
     of part-time workers.
       The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta also surveyed 
     businesses about changes in part-time employment and found 
     that 25 percent of respondents currently have a higher share 
     of part-time workers primarily because ``full-time employee 
     compensation costs

[[Page S463]]

     have increased relative to those of part-time employees.'' 
     More troubling is that 31 percent of respondents believe they 
     will have more part-time workers 2 years from now.
       There is bipartisan support for repealing this provision. 
     This bill has 34 cosponsors--mostly Republicans, including 
     every Republican member of this committee--but Senator 
     Donnelly and Senator Manchin of West Virginia, also a 
     Democrat, support it.
       Republicans have talked a lot about wanting to repair the 
     damage of Obamacare. We have also talked about wanting to get 
     results.
       This bipartisan bill should be an important step to doing 
     both.
       In fact, this reminds me of why so many of us like being on 
     this committee--because the issues we work on affect so many 
     Americans.
       When we talk about fixing No Child Left Behind, we're 
     talking about 50 million children in 100,000 public schools.
       When we talk about making it simpler to apply for a Pell 
     Grant to go to college, we're talking about simplifying a 
     form that 20 million families fill out each year.
       When we talk about modernizing the Food and Drug 
     Administration and making it easier for Americans to access 
     lifesaving drugs, we're talking about something that affects 
     nearly every American.
       But today we are focused on 2.6 million Americans who are 
     mostly low-income and at risk of losing jobs and hours.
       I look forward to hearing what our witnesses have to say.

                          ____________________