House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Thursday that the House would vote next week on legislation to eliminate language in ObamaCare that defines full-time work as a 30-hour work week.
“Next week in the U.S. House of Representatives, we will vote to restore wages and hours by up to 25 percent for Americans impacted by ObamaCare,” Cantor said in an op-ed for Credit.com.
{mosads}Republicans have noted that ObamaCare requires companies with more than 50 full-time workers to provide health insurance to those workers, or face a penalty. The law also defines “full time” as anyone working more than 30 hours a week.
The GOP says this creates an incentive for companies to stop people from working more than 30 hours a week, which is a 25 percent pay cut for those workers.
Cantor said in his op-ed that this is apparently the reason why Democrats are pushing for a 25 percent increase in the minimum wage, to $10.10 per hour.
“The president is attempting to distract people from these wage cuts by proposing a middle wage increase, but that would only make matters worse,” Cantor wrote. He said the minimum wage hike is worse because it would lead to half a million lost jobs.
In February, the House Ways and Means Committee approved the Save American Workers Act, H.R. 2575, which would repeal the 30-hour rule under ObamaCare.
— This story was corrected to say the editorial appeared on Credit.com.