Speaker of the House John Boehner announced yesterday that the first actions to be brought to the floor of the chamber this week will be a series of "jobs" bills. The three actions that head the list are these:
1. Exempting veterans who already get healthcare from the VA from counting in the number of employees under Obamacare. The health care law requires employers with more than 50 full time employees to provide healthcare under the so called employer's mandate. As a result, many small operations have refrained from hiring to avoid exceeding that number. By allowing the veterans not to count towards the 50 total, it provides an incentive for these companies to hire more people and also to hire veterans.
2. Defining a full time worker as one who works 40 hours a week rather than 30. Obamacare put in the 30 hour definition, and the result has been that many companies have cut workers' hours to 29 in an effort to avoid the employer's mandate. The net effect has been to reduce available work for many people who cannot live on the income from less than 30 hours of work. Restoring the traditional definition of full time as 40 hours per week will allow these workers to regain their full income.
3. Approving the Keystone Pipeline. This is a project that president Obama has stalled through inaction. Construction of the pipeline will allow creation of over 40,000 jobs.
All three of these measures were passed by the House during the last Congress. All three had bipartisan support. All three were killed when Harry Reid and the Democrats would not let them be brought to a vote in the Senate. With Reid gone and the Republicans in control in the Senate, there is a great likelihood that all three bills will pass both houses. It will then be up to Obama to sign or veto them. For once Obama will have to actually do something about jobs rather than just talking about it while doing nothing.
This is a good first move by the Republicans in the House. Let's hope there are a lot more.
1. Exempting veterans who already get healthcare from the VA from counting in the number of employees under Obamacare. The health care law requires employers with more than 50 full time employees to provide healthcare under the so called employer's mandate. As a result, many small operations have refrained from hiring to avoid exceeding that number. By allowing the veterans not to count towards the 50 total, it provides an incentive for these companies to hire more people and also to hire veterans.
2. Defining a full time worker as one who works 40 hours a week rather than 30. Obamacare put in the 30 hour definition, and the result has been that many companies have cut workers' hours to 29 in an effort to avoid the employer's mandate. The net effect has been to reduce available work for many people who cannot live on the income from less than 30 hours of work. Restoring the traditional definition of full time as 40 hours per week will allow these workers to regain their full income.
3. Approving the Keystone Pipeline. This is a project that president Obama has stalled through inaction. Construction of the pipeline will allow creation of over 40,000 jobs.
All three of these measures were passed by the House during the last Congress. All three had bipartisan support. All three were killed when Harry Reid and the Democrats would not let them be brought to a vote in the Senate. With Reid gone and the Republicans in control in the Senate, there is a great likelihood that all three bills will pass both houses. It will then be up to Obama to sign or veto them. For once Obama will have to actually do something about jobs rather than just talking about it while doing nothing.
This is a good first move by the Republicans in the House. Let's hope there are a lot more.
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