Westerman Stands with Arkansas Workers, Votes for 40-Hour Work Week

Statement

Congressman Bruce Westerman (R-Hot Springs) issued the following statement Wednesday on the passage of H.R. 30, the Save American Workers Act of 2015, a bill to restore the 40-hour full-time work week that Westerman has co-sponsored and President Barack Obama has threatened to veto:

"The president can threaten a veto, but his unwillingness to make changes to an unworkable Obamacare simply hurts the average worker. His veto threat only highlights how the president's failed policies continue to hurt the citizens of the Fourth District. My constituents will be watching to see if the president will choose to stand with Arkansas workers, or choose to protect his legacy. Will the president admit that the 30-hour work week hurts Arkansas workers and employers, or will he only think about protecting his namesake piece of legislation?

"H.R. 30 puts Americans back to work, and improves the bottom lines of small businesses across the Fourth District struggling to make payroll each week. By repealing Obamacare's 30-hour work week mandate, we are reducing the hassles imposed on businesses by the Obama administration and putting more money in the pockets of business owners and American workers."

Obamacare mandates that employers with 50 or more full-time employees must provide health insurance to all of those full-time employees. The law defines full-time as 30 hours per week.

The law in its current form has disproportionately affected several groups, with 63 percent of workers who have lost work hours due to the mandates being women, while 89 percent have been individuals without a college degree according to a report from the House Committee on Ways and Means from the 113th Congress.

A Congressional Budget Office report said restoring a 40-hour work week would create $75 billion in higher cash wages and $63 billion in lower taxes.

Source