Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican who represents North Carolina’s Fifth District, including Watauga County, voted with a 246-177 majority on House Bill 6094 on Sept. 28 to delay the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule for six months.

The DOL rule, scheduled to take effect in December, makes anyone earning up to $47,476 a year eligible for overtime pay. The salary cutoff now is $23,660. A complementary bill was introduced in the Senate hours before the House vote.

H.B. 6094 would delay implementation of the new overtime regulations until June 1, 2017.

“All too often the executive branch enacts policies that sound wonderful but impose unintended consequences and burdens that make the lives of hardworking Americans more difficult,” said Foxx on the House floor.

“This regulation will require companies to reclassify a significant portion of their workforce, eliminating flexibility in work times, bonus compensation and opportunities to advance. It will also impose significant compliance costs that will only serve to further bury job creators under red tape. While members of both political parties want to see all Americans earn more, we cannot ignore the financial consequences of this rule.”

President Obama has vowed to veto H.B. 6094.

The same day, Foxx introduced H.B. 6248 to ensure Congress has an opportunity to take action when mandatory programs exceed their cost estimates.

Foxx’s bill limits future authorizations or reauthorizations of mandatory spending programs to 110 percent of the amount the Congressional Budget Office estimates its cost to be when Congress approves it. Social Security, health, poverty and veterans programs are limited to 120 percent of that cost estimate.

If a program reaches its spending limit, the Office of Management and Budget would issue a stop payment order to the Treasury Department to halt that program’s operation until Congress is able to reconsider the program.

Reporting requirements included in the legislation ensure Congress has adequate warning that a program may reach its limit so reforms or offsets can be considered before any stop payment order is initiated.

“Washington has a serious spending problem and increases in mandatory spending are the largest cause of our worsening fiscal outlook. These programs often come in significantly over budget and Congress has little ability to address the unexpected spending levels,” said Foxx. “This legislation will protect taxpayers from unexpected mandatory spending increases and make the federal government more accountable.”
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