A witness at today’s Education & the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor & Pensions hearing cited a recent study that shows one-third of American small businesses are holding back hiring due to uncertainty over the president’s health care law. Republicans are working to remove excessive government barriers to job growth as part of the Plan for America’s Job Creators, and this hearing underscored how ObamaCare’s burdensome mandates are actually raising costs for employers and workers, and contributing to the uncertainty that makes it harder to create jobs. Here are a few key points from today’s hearing:

• Recent Study Shows That “33 Percent of Business Owners Cited Uncertainties” About ObamaCare as a Top Reason They’re Not Hiring. “[T]here is no question that the jobs recovery stalled after ObamaCare passed, with no new jobs created in August and unemployment stuck at 9.1 percent. There’s good reason to believe that the health law is a major contributor to the hiring halt. In a recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce study, 33 percent of business owners cited uncertainties about the health law as either the biggest or second-biggest reason they’re not hiring new workers.” (Grace-Marie Turner, President, Galen Institute, 10/13/11)

• “Administrative Expense” of Complying with ObamaCare Mandates Diverts Resources Small Businesses Need to Grow. “[T]here is no doubt that our clients spend money on consulting fees for grandfathering compliance matters that they did not have to spend two years ago.  That’s an administrative expense that does not grow their business, and the Subcommittee is probably aware of the well-known data indicating that small businesses create more than 60% of the new jobs in our country.” (Dennis M. Donahue, On Behalf of The Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, 10/13/11)

• Burdensome Mandates Raise Costs for American Workers. “As many employers are financially incented to lose grandfathered status in order to control costs, this has resulted in higher deductibles and higher cost-shift to employees.” (Robyn Piper, President, Piper Jordan, 10/13/11)

• ObamaCare Discourages Businesses Large and Small from Creating New Jobs. “The health law discourages hiring in several ways. First, it adds unknown costs to hiring new workers. … The health law also discourages small businesses from becoming mid-size businesses because the mandate to provide insurance kicks in once you reach 50 or more employees. … As for those companies that already have 50 or more workers, the burden of having to buy expensive government-approved policies or pay penalties discourages them from hiring all but essential staff.” (Grace-Marie Turner, President, Galen Institute, 10/13/11)

The new House majority has kept its Pledge to America to fully repeal the $2.6 trillion health care law; to defund the law as part of H.R. 1; and to repeal the job-destroying 1099 small business mandate – legislation that was signed into law in April. 

With the Plan for America’s Job Creators, the new House majority has worked to create a better environment for private-sector job growth, and will continue that effort by targeting the maze of costly new mandates, penalties, regulations and taxes levied by the health care law that 200 economists and experts say create “major barriers to stronger job growth.” Learn more: http://jobs.GOP.gov.