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Chairman Byrne, Ranking Member Takano, and Subcommittee members, thank you for the opportunity to submit written comments about modernizing wage and hour policy. I am Pamela Villarreal, a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA). We are a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

The workplace has changed dramatically since the 1930s, yet most federal wage and hour policies are based on rules that were established under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. While the FLSA has been amended over time, wage and hour policies have been slow to change with the diverse needs of the labor force. The participation rate of women has nearly doubled since 1950Union membership has been on the decline since the mid-1950s. U.S. manufacturing jobs have fallen by two-thirds since 1960, comprising about 8 percent of employment. Technological changes allow employees to work in non-office environments. Two-parent and single parent earner households have made it necessary for employers to be flexible in allowing workers to care for children or family members. Despite these changes in the workforce, federal wage and hour policies are mandated one-size-fits-all and do not allow employers to meet the various needs of their employees. Employee benefits law tends to be very rigid. In general, employees are not allowed to choose between taxable wages and nontaxed benefits.

Dear Chairman Piwowar,

On behalf of the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), I am submitting this statement regarding the reconsideration of the conflict minerals rule implementation.

The conflict minerals statute is a microcosm of the Dodd-Frank Act: a costly regulatory monster which not only failed to accomplish its intended purpose, but hurt those it was supposed to help.

Chairman Chabot, Ranking Member Velázquez, and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to submit written comments about the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on small businesses and their employees. I am Devon Herrick, a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis. We are a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization dedicated to developing and promoting private alternatives to government regulation and control, solving problems by relying on the strength of the competitive, entrepreneurial private sector.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) inhibits the growth of small businesses by raising the cost of growing beyond a certain size. This is more pronounced for firms employing low-skilled workers. The ACA’s employer mandate requires firms employing more than 49 workers to offer health coverage that includes an essential benefit package or pay a fine. The fine is $2,000 per worker beginning with the 31st worker. For firms that do not offer health benefits, this means the marginal cost of hiring the 50th worker is $40,000 in penalties on top of compensation costs for the 50th worker [(50 – 30) x $2,000]. Thus, small firms that employ less than 50 workers are unlikely to expand beyond 49 workers — especially if their workers are modest wage earners.

Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen, Chairman Smith, and Subcommittee members, thank you for the opportunity to submit written comments about the EMP threat to our nation’s electric grids. I am David Grantham, a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA). We are a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Highlights of John R. Graham’s Testimony to House Ways & Means Committee.

Chairman Buchanan, Ranking Member Lewis, and Members of the Committee, I am John R. Graham, Senior Fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization dedicated to developing and promoting private alternatives to government regulation and control, solving problems by relying on the strength of the competitive, entrepreneurial private sector. I welcome the opportunity to share my views and look forward to your questions.

The individual mandate is Obamacare’s least popular feature. It was the subject of the 2012 lawsuit asserting Obamacare was unconstitutional: Never before had the federal government forced any resident to buy a good or service from a private business. The people lost that argument. Nevertheless, Republicans have pledged to eliminate the individual mandate. This commitment remains good politics. Perhaps counterintuitively, it is also good economics.

According to last November’s Kaiser Family Foundation Tracking Poll, only 35 percent of respondents have a favorable view of the individual mandate. The proportion drops to just 21 percent among Republicans, and just 16 percent among Trump supporters.