{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=43E1E394-30FE-4452-A2EC-600B250D7296", "Alexander: Federal Court Decision Gives President-elect Trump and Congress Opportunity to Revise Destructive Time Card Rule", "2016-11-22", "2016", "2016-11", "Republican", "House", "TN", "Lamar Alexander", "A000360", "www.alexander.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Obama Administration\u2019s overtime rule - which was set to take effect Dec. 1 - would have raised college tuition, cut non-profit services, and demoted millions of workers back to punching a time clock\r\nMARYVILLE, Tenn., November 22\u00a0\u2014 Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said that the decision today by a Texas federal judge to halt the Labor Department\u2019s \u201cTime Card\u201d rule\u2014which was set to take effect on Dec. 1\u2014gives President-elect Trump and Congress an opportunity next year to revise the \u201cdestructive\u201d overtime rule that \u201cwould have raised college tuition, cut non-profit services and sent the nation's workers backwards \u2014 demoting millions back to punching a time clock.\u201d\r\nAs a result of today\u2019s injunction, implementation of the overtime rule is halted until the judge reaches a decision based on the merits of the case, giving the incoming Republican administration and Congress the opportunity to revise this rule\u2014which many have said is \u201ctoo high, too fast\u201d\u2014in favor of a more reasonable, balanced approach to increasing overtime pay. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office found that eliminating the overtime rule would result in an increase in real family income by about $260 million in late 2016, $2.1 billion in 2017, and $1 billion to $1.7 billion in later years. Businesses would have had to increase the costs of goods and services to comply with the new rule.\r\n\u201cToday\u2019s federal court decision to stop the Labor Department\u2019s harmful overtime rule in its tracks has America\u2019s students, non-profits, and workers\u00a0breathing a sigh of relief,\u201d said Senator Alexander. \u201cI\u2019ve heard from people all over Tennessee who had a great deal of concern about rising college tuition costs, fewer non-profit services, and diminished workplace flexibility \u2013 so this is a massive victory for them and for the more than 1,200 individuals and organizations \u2014 from mental health treatment providers to Christmas tree farms \u2014who wrote to me because they feared this rule\u2019s implementation on December 1.\u201d\r\nIn 2015, the Department of Labor released a proposal to increase the salary threshold under which employees qualify for overtime pay. The department\u2019s final rule more than doubled that salary threshold \u2013 from $23,660 to $47,476 \u2013 with just 6 months\u2019 notice, and would have resulted in students facing higher tuition costs and workers having less flexibility and opportunity for advancement in the workplace.\r\nMore than 400 organizations \u2014 from universities to social services agencies \u2014 have written to Senator Alexander in support of his bipartisan legislation to\u00a0change\u00a0the timeline for implementation of the Administration\u2019s overtime rule, and he has received nearly 800 letters to date from individuals expressing their opposition to the administration\u2019s rule.\r\n###\r\nFor access to this release and the senator\u2019s other statements, click\u00a0here.\r\nTo stay up-to-date on the senator\u2019s latest actions, follow him on\u00a0Twitter\u00a0and\u00a0YouTube.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=43E1E394-30FE-4452-A2EC-600B250D7296"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5025150496512651, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}