Sen. Lee Congratulates Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson

May 8, 2017

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) issued the following statement Monday after the Senate voted to confirm Secretary Heather Wilson as the 24th Secretary of the Air Force: “It is an honor to congratulate Secretary Heather Wilson on her confirmation to become the 24th Secretary of the Air Force. Dr. Wilson is highly qualified and her experience in the Air Force, Congress, and the private sector will serve her well in addressing the unique challenges our Air Force will be facing in the coming years. I was pleased to meet with Dr. Wilson earlier this year to discuss her priorities for the Air Force, including readiness and hiring challenges as well as controlling the costs of major acquisitions. I encourage her to visit Hill Air Force Base and Ogden Air Logistics Complex as soon as possible to see the innovations and solutions being delivered in Utah."

Fighting for Family Flexibility

May 5, 2017

Every working American wishes their paycheck was bigger. But for working parents, sometimes time is more valuable than money. Sometimes being there for that doctor’s appointment, baseball game, or parent-teacher’s conference is worth more than time and a half. And since 1978, hourly-paid government employees have been allowed to choose between taking overtime pay and comp time. If they worked more than 40 hours one week, they could take a bigger paycheck home that week, or bank that time and use it for family priorities when it was needed. But if you work on an hourly basis in the private sector, this practice is illegal. Employers are not allowed to come to an agreement with their employees about how their overtime is used. This double standard needs to end which is why I am so pleased Rep. Martha Roby’s (R-AL) “Working Families Flexibility Act” passed the House of Representatives earlier this week. Roby’s bill, and a companion bill I introduced in the Senate, allows employers to offer their employees the option of taking comp time or overtime pay, both accrued at one and a half times the overtime hours worked. Employers would not be able to force comp time on their employees and employees would not be able to take comp time whenever they wanted. Instead, the legislation requires employers and employees to come to a written agreement on how and when accrued overtime can be exchanged for comp time. If an employee does not want a comp time option, then they do not have to sign an agreement with their employer allowing them to do so. If an employee wants to cash out all of their accrued time at the traditional overtime rate, they can do so at any time. If an employee has any unused comp time at the end of the year, employers must cash that time out at the traditional overtime rate. Some on the left have made some hysterical claims about the bill, asserting that it “ends the 40-hour work week” or “ends time and a half pay for overtime.” As the protections mentioned above make clear, nothing could be further from the truth. The bill maintains all existing employee protections, including the current 40-hour workweek and overtime accrual, and provides additional safeguards to ensure that the choice to use comp time is voluntary. What the bill does do is offer millions of working American families the same flexibility that public sector employees have enjoyed for almost 40 years. I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues on moving this bill through the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on to the Senate floor, and then to President Trump’s desk.

May 5, 2017 - Mobile Office Visit to Tabiona

May 5, 2017

What: Mobile Office Visit to Tabiona When: Friday 5 May 2017 @ 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM Where: Tabiona, Utah @ Tabiona Town Hall, 38152 W 3950 N, Tabiona, UT 84072

May 5, 2017 - Mobile Office Visit to Helper

May 5, 2017

What: Mobile Office Visit to Helper When: Friday 5 May 2017 @ 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM Where: Helper, Utah @ Helper City Hall, 73 S Main St, Helper, UT 84526

Another Step Closer to Repealing Obamacare

May 5, 2017

Every time I travel back to Utah I hear from constituents who are paying higher and higher premiums every year, now sometimes higher than their mortgage payments. This has to stop. Now more than ever, Republicans need to repeal Obamacare. Just this week, Aetna announced they would be pulling out of Virginia’s Obamacare marketplace entirely, leaving 27 counties in the state with just one health insurance provider. And in Iowa, Medica, the last Obamacare insurance provider in that state, announced they too would be leaving the marketplace, leaving tens of thousands of Iowans without any health insurance options at all. Ideally, Congress would have repealed Obamacare months ago and both chambers could be working on replacements right now. The initial plan was to have the 2015 repeal bill, which every non-freshman member of the House and Senate already voted for, on President Trump’s desk to sign on Inauguration Day. But for whatever reasons another path was chosen and now five months later the House of Representatives passed a new repeal bill Thursday that will soon be moving to the Senate. Unfortunately that bill contains numerous fatal procedural flaws and much of it will have to be rewritten. In fact, it will probably have to be reenvisoned entirely. Fortunately a diverse group of Republican senators (including moderate and conservative members) have begun working on a new health care framework that can both get 51 votes in the Senate and survive the chambers arcane reconciliation rules. It is still far too early to tell what this group will produce, but the end result could end up being a huge win for the American people. Ideally a final product would put Medicaid on a sustainable fiscal path while minimizing disruptions in care for those currently enrolled in the program. It would take steps towards equalizing the tax treatment of health insurance. And it would find a way to better finance health care for low income Americans and those with pre-existing conditions without disrupting the health care market for the rest of the country. At a minimum this would mean repealing all or most of the Obamacare insurance regulations or at least require states to opt in to them. A bill like the one outlined above would deliver real relief to millions of Americans who are paying unthinkably high health insurance premiums for benefits they can rarely claim because the deductibles on their insurance plans are so high. It would also protect those vulnerable populations that are most in need of public health care assistance including expectant mothers, children, the disabled, and those with pre-existing conditions. I can’t promise the Senate’s final product will look exactly like the one sketched out above. But I can promise I will fight as hard as possible to make Obamacare repeal a reality.

May 4, 2017 - Mobile Office Visit to Emery

May 4, 2017

What: Mobile Office Visit to Emery When: Thursday 4 May 2017 @ 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM Where: Emery, Utah @ Emery Town Office, 65 N Center St, Emery, UT 84522

May 4, 2017 - Mobile Office Visit to Junction

May 4, 2017

What: Mobile Office Visit to Junction When: Thursday 4 May 2017 @ 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM Where: Junction, Utah @ Piute County Courthouse, 550 N Main St, Junction, UT 84740

Get government out of the Internet’s business

May 4, 2017

Why would the former head of a federal agency write an opinion essay defending a federal regulation he created without ever naming the regulation he is trying to defend? Because he doesn’t want you to know there was a time when the regulation never existed.

May 3, 2017 - Mobile Office Visit to Richfield

May 3, 2017

What: Mobile Office Visit to Richfield When: Wednesday 03 May 2017 @ 2:00 pm – 3:45 pm Where: Richfield, Utah @ Sevier County Administration Building Room, 250 N Main Street, Richfield, UT 84701

May 3, 2017 - Mobile Office Visit to Loa

May 3, 2017

What: Mobile Office Visit to Loa When: Wednesday May 3rd, 2017 @ 9:45 AM – 10:45 AM Where: Loa, Utah @ Wayne County Courthouse, 18 South Main, Loa UT 84747