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“MILLER MOTION TO INSTRUCT CONFEREES ON OVERTIME” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E858 on May 14, 2004.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
MILLER MOTION TO INSTRUCT CONFEREES ON OVERTIME
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HON. DANNY K. DAVIS
of illinois
in the house of representatives
Thursday, May 13, 2004
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Miller Motion on Overtime which would instruct conferees to adopt provisions to prohibit overtime cuts, while allowing the administration to improve overtime rules. I am proud that in my home State of Illinois on March 31, the State House and Senate passed legislation that made Illinois the first State in the country to exempt the State from the changes to overtime pay rules. This legislation was signed into law by our former House colleague, Governor Blagojevich.
This legislation will preserve overtime compensation for 375,000 workers in Illinois. Unfortunately, not every State will be able to pass legislation to protect their workers. The Department of Labor's new regulations will cut the pay and lengthen the hours for workers making as little as $23,660. This would mean a pay cut for middle-
income Americans, when millions depend on overtime pay to make ends meet at a time when the median income has declined with an increase in cost for education, child care, basic health care, health insurance, heating and cooling and gasoline.
In 2000, overtime pay accounted for about 25 percent of the income of employees who worked overtime. With the new regulation middle-income workers making between $23,660 and $100,000 will lose their overtime--
this includes our police, fire fighters, day care workers, chefs, plumbers, electricians, nurses, and journalists. With over 60 percent of women with children under the age of two being part of the workforce, nursery and pre-school teachers are playing more important roles in our children's lives. As the work day extends for parents, so does the work day for nursery and pre-school teachers. The average pay for these teachers is $8 an hour, with many working 10 hours a day. Yet they will no longer qualify for overtime.
An average police officer starting salary is around $40,000. They protect us, keep us safe, walk the streets--put their lives on the line. After September 11th, our Nation became more grateful and devoted more respect to our officers and first responders. Yet we now want to take overtime away from them which could be used to benefit our economy and the lives of their families. There are already some police departments that do not pay overtime but offer comp time. Although, comp time is nice--with heightened security alerts and the need for more police on our streets, many do not get the opportunity to use this comp time when they would like. Instead, many police officers retire 20--30 years later receiving a check for their unused comp time.
Mr. Speaker, we can not turn our backs on our working Americans. Without overtime, many will have to struggle to maintain their current way of living. I am not just prolabor, I am proud to be pro-family. And I know that these new regulations would be destructive to our working families. These regulations mean more work hours, less time with families, and even worse, less job creation.
The Illinois State Government understands. Our other body, the United States Senate understands--now the House needs to realize the importance of these new regulations. I ask my colleagues to support this motion.
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