Dr. Bucshon’s Floor Speech: Save American Workers Act

(Washington, DC) –On Wednesday afternoon, Congressman Larry Bucshon, M.D. spoke on the House floor in support of H.R. 2575, the Save American Workers (SAW) Act.  H.R. 2575 repeals the 30-hour definition of “full-time employment” in the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as ObamaCare, and restores the traditional 40-hour definition protecting hourly wages for American workers.

Text of Dr. Bucshon’s floor speech is included below and the video can be accessed online here.

“Thank your Mr. Chairman. I rise today in strong support of this legislation.

“Across my district, I have heard from thousands of employees who have had their hours cut from 40 hours to 29 hours.  

“Greencastle School Corporation – were forced to cut the hours of 54 employees from full time to part time.

“Terre Haute School Corporation – were forced to cut the hours of hundreds employees, many of them are bus drivers who are no longer allowed to provide transportation for after school activities.

“Washington-Greene County School Corporation – were forced to cut the hours of 150 employees from 40 hours to 29 hours.

“Eastern Green County School Corporation – announced that all of their employees who aren’t receiving health insurance, will have their hours cut to 28 hours.

“Dubois County Schools- were forced to reduce the hours for instructional assistants, cafeteria employees and custodial staff.

“These are employees who took a job, understanding from the beginning that they weren’t going to receive health insurance and they were ok with that. 

“In fact, the majority of these employees already receive health insurance from their spouse’s employer and many of them have worked for their school corporation for several years.

 “School Corporations do not have the luxury to raise taxes to pay for these provisions, they aren’t a major business that can raise their rates and they simply cannot afford the Affordable Care Act.

“These Hoosiers work every day with students and because of this provision within the Affordable Care Act, our students will suffer.”

BACKGROUND:

A vote on H.R. 2575, the Save American Workers Act, is expected sometime Thursday afternoon. More information on the bill can be found here