Hatch, Alexander Announce Legislation to Repeal Employer Mandate

WASHINGTON – Today, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) introduced the American Job Protection Act, S. 305, a bill to repeal Obamacare’s job-killing employer mandate. Under the President’s health law, businesses with 50 or more equivalent employees are required to offer health insurance of minimum value or pay a penalty between $2,000 and $3,000 for each employee working 30 hours or more a week. The Chairmen were joined by 26 senators in cosponsoring the bill.

“Obamacare’s burdensome employer mandate continues to hinder job-creation and growth, and the best action Washington can take is to repeal it entirely,” said Hatch. “By doing away with the mandate, job-creators will be able to grow their businesses without the added concern of reaching an arbitrary and punitive threshold. Repealing this job-killing mandate will put American small businesses back in a position to hire again. That means more jobs for the American people and more growth for the American economy.”

“The havoc Obamacare’s misguided employer mandate is wreaking in American workplaces was every bit as predictable as it was preventable, as Republicans warned over and over that an employer mandate would do exactly what it’s doing: businesses that employ many of our lowest-income workers are cutting jobs and many other businesses are reducing the number of hours their employees work to avoid the mandate’s high cost,” said Alexander. Until we have a Republican president and can repeal Obamacare, the responsible thing to do is repeal the employer mandate—one of several steps we can take to repair the damage Obamacare has done.”

Joining the Chairmen in cosponsoring the bill were Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Dan Coats (R-Ind.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), David Vitter (R-La.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

The employer mandate went into effect in 2014. Employers are subsequently experiencing the full negative effects of the mandate and are basing decisions about their businesses going forward around the mandate’s impacts. A recent Gallup survey of small employers found that 11 times as many small business owners believe that the PPACA will increase their health care costs as opposed to those who believe that it will reduce costs. Overall, approximately half of small business owners believe that the PPACA will be bad for business, compared to only 9 percent who expect it to have a beneficial impact. These expectations are forcing action: employers are holding back on hiring new employees or have slowed plans to grow their business.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Outlook Survey released in April 2013 found that the requirements of the health care law are now the biggest concern for small businesses. Of small business respondents, 77 percent say the health care law will make coverage for their employees more expensive, and 71 percent say the law makes it harder for them to hire more employees. As a result of the employer mandate, one-third of small businesses plan to reduce hiring, and will cut back hours to reduce the number of full-time employees.

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