WASHINGTON, D.C. —Congressman Scott Tipton, R-Colorado, voted with his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives to restore the full-time workweek to 40 hours, according to a news release.

The president’s health care law requires all businesses with the equivalent of over 50 full-time employees to provide health insurance coverage for those employees. The law defines full-time at 30 hours per week, forcing many small businesses on tight budgets to reduce their employees’ hours because the expense of providing health insurance for traditionally part-time employees is too high. The Save American Workers Act (H.R. 30) restores the definition of the full-time workweek to 40 hours.

“One of the biggest consequences of the President’s healthcare law is that many Americans have lost work hours and wages. Employers and employees across the 3rd District have shared serious concerns with me over how some of the most vulnerable workers have been hurt the worst by the President’s reduction of the full-time work week from 40 hours to 30 hours. Those who had worked part-time to help their family make ends meet, supplement their retirement income, or get through their education are now faced with this hurdle that prevents them from getting enough hours and earning the wages they need,” Tipton said in a statement. “The Save American Workers Act restores the full-time workweek to the traditional 40 hours, providing relief for countless hardworking Americans, giving them the opportunity once more to earn a larger paycheck. I urge the President to reconsider his veto threat and join with us to stand up for the people that have been hurt by this ill-conceived provision.”

In a House Small Business Committee hearing during the 113th Congress, Tipton shared the impacts that the President’s healthcare law has had on a local Pizza Hut franchise owner from Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. The President’s law has caused numerous issues for Nancy Riemer’s restaurants and employees, one of the biggest being the reduction of the “full-time” workweek from 40 hours to 30 hours, according to Riemer.  Because of this change, Riemer told Tipton that she wouldn’t be able to hire any additional full-time employees, and eventually would need to reduce some of their formerly “part-time” employees’ hours.

People’s handouts harm, don’t help, wildlife



Winter is here and that means animals will have to search a little harder for food. Colorado Parks and Wildlife wants to remind people that the best way to help hungry animals is to let them find their next meal on their own, according to a press release. 
 


“People may mean well, but those who feed deer do more harm than good,” Scott Murdoch, a Colorado Parks and Wildlife officer, said in a statement. 
 


A law passed in 1992 makes it illegal to feed big game animals. This includes deer, elk, pronghorn, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, mountain lions and bears. Feeding wildlife is bad for the animals and dangerous for people, for a number of different reasons. In the wild, deer and elk naturally spread out when grazing or browsing for food. Artificial feeding encourages them to crowd together making it easier to spread disease throughout a herd. Also, artificial concentrations of deer in neighborhoods results in increased vehicle collisions and conflicts with dogs harassing deer.
Deer are the primary prey of mountain lions and large gatherings of deer can attract lions into neighborhoods, putting people, livestock and pets at risk. The mountain lions are also then put in danger because it may become necessary to kill them if they become a threat to human health and safety. 
 

“Every winter, officer’s deal with numerous pets and livestock that get killed by mountain lions because homeowners are feeding deer; deer do just fine without the public’s help,” Murdoch said.

Wild animals have complex digestive systems and their natural diet is difficult to duplicate. Food from human sources can also lead to malnutrition, a disruption in natural migration patterns and death. 
 


To report incidents of feeding or other illegal wildlife activity contact a local Colorado Parks and Wildlife officer. If you wish to remain anonymous, contact Operation Game Thief at 877-265-6648. Rewards may be offered is the information leads to a citation.