Subject: Tone-deaf Speaker Ryan calls new overtime protections for millions of Americans an "absolute disaster"
From: Jeremy Funk <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 18 May 2016 14:20:06 -0400

See story below; reaction from Brad Woodhouse, President, Americans United for Change: "The Obama administration's new rule<https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/05/17/fact-sheet-growing-middle-class-paychecks-and-helping-working-families-0> bumping the overtime pay threshold for millions of hard-working Americans provides a stepping stone to the middle class for many where there was not one before.  It's another welcome step towards fixing the income inequality crisis in the country. And predictably, Republicans hate it. Speaker Ryan calls it an 'absolute disaster.'  The millions of folks out there whose salaries have been falling just above the overtime threshold but were still expected to put in 60 plus hours per week without additional compensation would strongly disagree with the Speaker's assessment.  The fact that CEO's of big corporations and their tools in Congress prevented the overtime threshold from going up for decades was one of those rules of the economic game that prevented ordinary people from sharing in the economic growth of the last several decades.  That kept the wages of ordinary people flat while per capita income went up 48%, mostly for CEO's and the super wealthy.  Now the President changed that rule, and it will make it possible for millions of Americans to get the overtime to which they should have been entitled. Some Republicans say they want to overturn the rule in Congress, and it sounds like Paul Ryan is on board. If the Republicans want to try to take people's overtime away ahead of the election, go right ahead and try.  The President has pledged to veto any such move, and they have no prayer of overturning that veto in Congress. At every turn, Republicans and their corporate campaign backers who fought efforts to raise the minimum wage for low income workers have trashed this important step towards helping everyday Americans who work grueling hours without adequate pay. These Republicans push the same trickle-down theories that brought us the great recession, they protect CEO bonuses and tax breaks for millionaires and outsourcers, yet they believe the workers behind the companies' success don't deserve honest pay for honest work.  Republicans don't share the President's belief that if you work hard you should be able to provide for yourself and your family, and it's another reason why they will lose badly in November. Republicans really, really, really don't need another voter-repelling issue dragging them down right now on top of a racist misogynist at the top of their ticket, their Supreme Court obstructionism, an economic recovery they had no part of, refusal to act on immigration reform, climate science denialism, etc, etc. etc."

http://thehill.com/regulation/labor/280357-ryan-overtime-rule-is-absolute-disaster

Ryan: Overtime rule is 'absolute disaster'
Haiyun Jiang

By Lydia Wheeler<http://thehill.com/author/lydia-wheeler> - 05/18/16 11:59 AM EDT
House Republican leaders are slamming the Obama administration for expanding overtime pay to some 4 million Americans.
In a statement, Speaker Paul Ryan<http://thehill.com/people/paul-ryan> (R-Wis.) called the overtime rule an "absolute disaster" for the economy.
"This regulation hurts the very people it alleges to help," he said. "Who is hurt most? Students, nonprofit employees, and people starting a new career. By mandating overtime pay at a much higher salary threshold, many small businesses and nonprofits will be unable to afford skilled workers and be forced to eliminate salaried positions, complete with benefits, altogether."
The rule released late Tuesday makes anyone earning up to $47,476 a year, or roughly $913 a week, eligible for overtime pay.
In a concession to business groups, the administration reduced the threshold for overtime pay by about $3,000, down from the $50,440 cutoff initially proposed, but groups claim the policy change is still too dramatic an increase. The cutoff for overtime pay now stands at $23,660 per year.
Ryan accused President Obama of focusing on his political legacy to the detriment of the country.

"President Obama is rushing through regulations - like the overtime rule - that will cause people to lose their livelihoods. We are committed to fighting this rule and the many others that would be an absolute disaster for our economy."

Business groups are pushing lawmakers to stop the Labor Department from implementing the rule by passing the Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity Act, a GOP-backed bill introduced in the House and Senate.

"The challenge this poses for employers, both in terms of time and expense, is daunting," Jade West, senior vice president of government relations for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, said in a statement.

"But the real victims of this new rule will be those well-compensated workers who will now be required to punch a time clock and lose the workplace flexibility they have enjoyed and which is so important to women and men who struggle to balance their responsibilities at work with the requirements of family life."

The legislation would force the Labor Department to consider the impact of the rule on small businesses, nonprofits and higher education institutions.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) said momentum for the bill is building.

"I think the Department of Labor and the administration kept a lockdown on the docket and correspondences going in from Democratic members expressing concerns," NRF Senior Director of Government Relations Lizzy Simmons said. "As we move forward we'll be able to see the sheer magnitude of concern expressed by Dems, and we'll be able to go from there."

To address concerns about the rule among healthcare service providers that rely exclusively on Medicaid funding, the Department of Labor has created a time-limited nonenforcement policy.

From December 1 to March 17, 2019, the agency said providers of Medicaid-funded services for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities in residential homes and facilities with 15 or fewer beds will not be forced to pay the extra overtime.

The American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR) welcomed the 34-month delay.

"While the delay in itself is not a complete solution to this problem, the recognition of the issue in the rule is an important first step in our campaign to ensure Congress, the administration and states provide the necessary funding to extend the full benefits of the new rule to the dedicated professionals who work every day to ensure people with disabilities have the opportunity to realize the promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act," ANCOR CEO Barbara Merrill said in a statement.

Updated at 12:45 p.m.

______________________________________________________
Jeremy J. Funk
Communications Director, Americans United for Change
Office: 202.470.5878
Cell: 605.366.3654
[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>
www.AmericansUnitedforChange.org<http://www.AmericansUnitedforChange.org>
Twitter: @jeremyjfunk<https://twitter.com/JeremyJFunk>