{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=A5456842-DD4F-44E7-9804-49CBA7B46652", "Thune Slams Biden\u2019s Big-Government Labor Policies", "2023-11-09", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "Click here to watch the video.\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today discussed how the Biden administration is using the federal regulatory system to implement overreaching labor rules that prioritize union bosses over American workers and small businesses. Thune recently urged the U.S. Department of Labor to withdraw its new overtime rule that would result in higher prices, fewer jobs, and lower base salaries for employees.\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):\n\n\u201cMr. President, as I\u2019ve said before, when it comes to the actions of government, it\u2019s often legislation that grabs the biggest headlines.\n\n\u201cBut it\u2019s equally important to focus on what a presidential administration is doing with its regulatory power \u2013 something I was reminded of again last week when I signed on to a letter headed by Senator Cassidy on the Biden administration\u2019s proposed new overtime rule.\n\n\u201cBecause in the modern regulatory state, presidents have a tremendous amount of power to affect our economy and federal policy through regulation.\n\n\u201cAnd today I\u2019d like to take a couple of minutes to talk about some labor regulations coming out of the Biden administration that are likely to prove detrimental to workers, business owners, and our economy.\n\n\u201cLet me start with the Biden administration\u2019s proposed new overtime rule.\n\n\u201cThis proposal would impose a 55 percent increase in the exemption threshold for providing overtime pay for covered employees.\n\n\u201cCurrently, employers are required to pay covered employees making less than $35,568 per year overtime if they work more than 40 hours per week.\n\n\u201cUnder the Biden administration\u2019s proposed new rule, employers would be required to pay overtime to covered employees making less than $55,068 \u2013 as I said, a massive 55 percent increase in the exemption threshold.\n\n\u201cSo what would be the effects of this proposed rule?\n\n\u201cWell, it would likely result in some combination of higher prices, fewer job opportunities, and lower base pay for employees.\n\n\u201cBecause employers \u2013 and I am thinking particularly of smaller businesses, who are always going to be hit hardest by regulations like this \u2013 are going to be forced to look for ways to offset what could be a substantial increase in costs.\n\n\u201cIndeed, many smaller businesses will have to find some way of offsetting this cost increase if they want to stay profitable.\n\n\u201cAnd so businesses large and small are likely to compensate either by increasing prices on their goods or services, reducing the number of positions they have available, or lowering base pay to create room to pay overtime wages.\n\n\u201cAnd needless to say, none of these are attractive options for workers, consumers, or businesses.\n\n\u201cConsumers are currently stretched to their limit with price hikes in the Biden economy.\n\n\u201cAnd lower base pay or fewer available positions are not attractive options for American workers.\n\n\u201cAnd by the way, you don\u2019t have to take my word for it on that lower base pay.\n\n\u201cThe head of President Biden\u2019s own Council of Economic Advisers has previously noted, and I quote, \u2018The costs of increased [overtime] coverage would ultimately be borne by workers as employers set base wages taking expected overtime pay into account.\u2019\n\n\u201cMr. President, it would be nice if this were the only bad labor rule coming out of the Biden administration.\n\n\u201cBut it\u2019s not.\n\n\u201cAmong other bad regulations, there\u2019s also the independent contractor rule, which the Biden Labor Department is likely to finalize soon.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s referred to as the independent contractor rule, but in many ways that\u2019s a misnomer \u2013 because this rule is likely to substantially reduce the number of independent contractors.\n\n\u201cHow?\n\n\u201cBy replacing the previous administration\u2019s independent contractor rule, which would have provided clear guidelines for determining whether a worker classifies as an independent contractor, with a vague, sweeping new rule that could end up with many workers being reclassified as employees.\n\n\u201cMr. President, independent contractors \u2013 who range from computer programmers to freelance editors to Uber and Lyft drivers \u2013 generally value independent contracting thanks to things like the flexibility and opportunity this path provides.\n\n\u201cIndeed, a 2017 survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that fewer than one in 10 independent contractors would prefer traditional employee status.\n\n\u201cBut thanks to the Biden administration, many of them may be forced into employee status.\n\n\u201cThe rule will threaten workers in the \u2018gig economy\u2019 \u2013 which is made up of platforms like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and TaskRabbit that allow workers to pursue full-time work with the platform or simply augment their income from a regular 9-5 position.\n\n\u201cAnd, Mr. President, the bad ideas don\u2019t end with the independent contractor rule.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s also the joint employer rule the National Labor Relations Board recently finalized \u2013 yet another move from the Biden administration to use the power of the federal government to advantage unions.\n\n\u201cThe joint employer rule substantially changes the standard of what constitutes a joint employer \u2013 which comes into play in a major way with franchising.\n\n\u201cTo put this in practical terms, this rule means that companies could end up being considered joint employers of employees at franchised locations of their business \u2013 which could force both the company and the local franchise owners to negotiate with unions, or make both the company and local franchise owners liable for unfair labor practices that potentially only one party is responsible for.\n\n\u201cThe result is likely to be that companies cut back on franchising or increase oversight or control of their franchisees, which would disrupt one of the most accessible paths to business ownership for Americans looking to run their own businesses.\n\n\u201cIn comments after the new joint employer rule was proposed, the International Franchise Association noted, and I quote, \u201cThe proposed rule will needlessly upend the franchise business model and close the door to opportunity for hundreds of thousands of Americans, especially women, people of color, veterans, and first-time business owners.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut apparently that doesn\u2019t matter to the Biden administration as long as union bosses are benefiting.\n\n\u201cMr. President, on the economic front, President Biden is perhaps most famous for helping to kick off the worst inflation crisis in 40 years with the so-called American Rescue Plan Act.\n\n\u201cBut as these rules demonstrate, the president is continuing to build on that negative economic legacy with regulations that will diminish economic opportunities for workers and entrepreneurs and likely continue to drive up prices for consumers.\n\n\u201cIn other words, business as usual in the Biden administration: The president imposes his big-government policies, and the American people pay the price.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I yield the floor.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"]], "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.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=A5456842-DD4F-44E7-9804-49CBA7B46652"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.2805416956543922, "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"}