Restaurant owner Tom Boucher said he decided against opening up another restaurant after President Barack Obama was reelected.
Boucher’s remarks came during a House Energy & Commerce Committee hearing on “Obamacare’s Impact on Jobs” on Wednesday.
The CEO of the Great New Hampshire Restaurants, explained he waited to see the results of the presidential election before making the decision.
Not only is he not opening up any more businesses, but the restaurateur said he would not have been able to open up as many restaurants as he owns now, had the Affordable Care Act been in place.
Rep. Ralph Hall (R-Texas) asked Boucher, who was a witness during the hearing, “How do you think this obstacle [ACA] would have affected your business when you were getting started, as opposed to now that you are well established?”
“We would likely not be where we are today,” Boucher responded. “It’s become more and more difficult to operate business because of legislation such as this.”
“I know for a fact we would not have opened the number of restaurants we’ve opened had this been in place,” he added.
Boucher explained that almost the majority of his workforce are “young invincibles.”
“Forty-three percent of employees are under age 26 in the industry,” Boucher said. “Will our young workforce choose to pay the individual mandate tax penalty instead of accepting our offer of coverage in 2014, 2015 and beyond?”
Another witness, Diana Furchtgott-Roth, argued earlier during the hearing that Obamacare would hurt low-skill jobs, such as a restaurant server, the most. She also added that the high costs of ACA will keep people from eating in restaurants such as Boucher’s.
Boucher is one of many restaurant owners struggling to implement the new changes under Obamacare. Five Guys franchise owner Mike Ruffer announced earlier this week that he may be raising food prices to cover the new costs under ACA. Subway founder Fred Deluca claims the sandwich chain would not actually exist if he tried to start it now because of regulations like Obamacare and a higher minimum wage.
Did we mention this week marks the third anniversary of the healthcare mandate? Happy Anniversary, Obamacare!
