Providing for Further Consideration of H.R. 5303, Water Resources Development Act of 2016; Providing for Consideration of H.R. 6094, Regulatory Relief for Small Businesses, Schools, and Nonprofits...

Floor Speech

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Mr. NEWHOUSE. I thank the gentleman from Georgia for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to add my voice today in support of this rule and the underlying legislation, H.R. 6094, which is the Regulatory Relief for Small Businesses, Schools, and Nonprofits Act.

In recent months, I have heard--and, I am sure, the Speaker has as well--from a growing number of constituents who are gravely concerned about the impact that the Department of Labor's new one-size-fits-all overtime rule would have on their jobs, would have on their businesses, as well as would have on nonprofit organizations.

When the rule goes into effect on December 1, it will impose enormous new costs on businesses, lifting the cap of workers who are eligible for overtime pay from $23,600 to $47,476. I admit, on its face, this sounds like a real benefit for workers; however, the impacts, likely, will be devastating. Small businesses and nonprofits that are confronted with this new burden will be faced with some very difficult choices: having to pay thousands of dollars in additional labor costs, they end up having to limit their employees' hours; moving salaried workers to hourly positions; or, even worse, laying off workers.

Worse than that, the Department of Labor has made no attempt to make this rule workable for small business. There is no phase-in. On December 1, it will hit every business, every school, and every nonprofit in America full force, just like a freight train.

The rule was not curtailed to geography either. It will take effect in the Seattle metropolitan area, where the
annual mean wage is around $61,000, the same way it will impact the Yakima area, where that annual mean wage is just over $41,000.

The way the Department of Labor went about issuing this very flawed one-size-fits-all rule just isn't right. H.R. 6094--which I was proud to cosponsor, and I thank Congressman Walberg for introducing--would simply delay the rule for 6 months so that we can work with the Department of Labor as well as stakeholders to address this issue in a responsible, workable way.

Sadly, to not adopt this delay will result in job losses for the very people the rule was intended to help: your constituents and mine.

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