Rep. Graves: Obamacare Blocking Job Growth

U.S. Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA-14) issued the following statement after the May jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today showed that unemployment increased to 7.6 percent:

“Obamacare has become a firewall between job seekers and businesses. Millions of Americans remain unemployed and many are seeing their hours cut as businesses grapple with the regulations and costs associated with the president’s health care law. I will continue working defund Obamacare so that America’s businesses can grow and hire again.”

Rep. Graves is the author of H.R. 1005, the Defund Obamacare Act.

In the News: Obamacare Threatens Job Creation, Wages and Hours
(Courtesy of the House Ways and Means Committee.)

USA Today and the Wall Street Journal have reported that many businesses plan to bring on more part-time workers next year, trim the hours of full-time employees or curtail hiring because of the new health care law.

According to a study by the Hudson Institute, in the franchise industry alone, Obamacare’s employer mandate puts up to 3.2 million jobs at risk.

The Federal Reserve recently warned, “Employers in several [Federal Reserve] Districts cited the unknown effects of the Affordable Care Act as reasons for planned layoffs and reluctance to hire more staff.”

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the amount of workers in the labor force will be reduced by 800,000 in 2021 as a result of the Democrats’ health care law.

Regal Cinemas, the largest theatre circuit in the United States, announced they would be cutting the hours of thousands of employees as a result of Obamacare.

The Wall Street Journal reported, “Several restaurants, hotels and retailers have started or are preparing to limit schedules of hourly workers to below 30 hours a week….  CKE Restaurants Inc., parent of the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's burger chains, began two months ago to hire part-time workers to replace full-time employees who left…. Home retailer Anna's Linens Inc., is considering cutting hours for some full-time employees to avoid the insurance mandate if the health-care law isn't repealed....”

From the New York Times: “There is another reason to believe that part-time employment will stay higher for longer, namely the incentives to employ part-time workers created by Obama’s health care reforms.” (Paul Dales, senior United States economist for Capital Economics).

According to a 2012 survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, over 70 percent of small businesses cite Obamacare as a major obstacle to job creation.