Defeated an Alaska gross receipts tax
The idea was proposed by the Municipality of Anchorage looking to increase its revenues. But once again, NFIB fought to stop a tax on gross revenues that would have been charged no matter what the annual profit margins were. The suggested rate for the new tax was 7 percent, which would have meant $35,000 in new taxes for businesses with annual sales of more than $500,000. The idea was never put into bill form.
Killed a play-or-pay healthcare proposal for Alaska
Senate Bill 61 would have forced small business owners to either provide healthcare for their employees or pay into a state fund that would be used to provide medical coverage – play or pay. Had it become law, employers would be required to provide at least a mandated set of benefits, covering a minimum of 25 percent of employees and paying at least 33 percent of the premium. Employers who do not meet the requirements would have been taxed a percentage of their gross payroll. SB 61 also called for the creation The Alaska Health Care Board to set approved benefits, deductibles, and copay levels. Senate Bill 61 is still alive; it was only killed for this year. A measure similar to SB 61 made it out of two committees, before NFIB and others were able to kill it in the Finance Committee. Please see the AK Issues link to the left for more information.
Stopped four more Alaska healthcare mandates
NFIB succeeded in stopping four more healthcare requirements (mandates) on basic insurance plans: House Bill 187 (autism), Senate Bill 10 (clinical trials), Senate Bill 11 (age coverage), and Senate Bill 21 (mental health). Mandates are orders by the state to health insurers to add more and more procedures before they can legally sell their plans. More mandates equal higher premiums. For those without healthcare coverage at all, these mandates would have been four more nails in the coffin of affordability. More than half of Alaskan business owners have no health insurance. Please see AK Issues link to the left for more information about mandates.
Blocked automatic minimum-wage increases in Alaska
Deep in a recession, legislators were anxious to show voters they cared by increasing the minimum-wage rate. One of the worst ideas they came up with was linking all future increases to rises in the Consumer Price Index. Politicians here and in other states have tried to run from the responsibility of setting the state’s minimum-wage rate for years by linking future increases to the rise in the Consumer Price Index. Both House Bill 125 and Senate Bill 1 called for a CPI. NFIB/Alaska was instrumental in helping defeat HB 125 that would have linked all future increases to the Anchorage Consumer Price Index. Although increasing the minimum-wage rate in a recession, or any other time for that matter, produces the opposite effect of helping people, the political climate made it impossible to stop every proposal, so NFIB/Alaska and other business groups worked for passage of Senate Bill 1 – after stripping it of the CPI – that makes only two slight adjustments to the rate: an increase to the federal level of $7.25 on July 24, 2009; then to the federal level plus 50¢ or $7.75 on January 1, 2010.
Won cap extension on workers' comp fees in Alaska
Workers’ compensation is one of the highest costs in running a business. One of the nation’s oldest programs, workers’ compensation systems across the nation have required more and more premiums in order to keep up with the rising costs of healthcare and bureaucratic bloating. In order to keep enterprises open and employing people, Alaska had set a cap on workers compensation costs, but it was due to expire on March 31. NFIB succeeded in pushing for an extension of the cap through the end of the year until the Department of Labor can get its own fee schedule in place.
Helped reform Alaska's unemployment insurance system
Unemployment insurance benefits had not increased in 10 years, but while Alaska ranks among the lowest states in the nation in giving benefits, it also has among the highest UI rates in the country, too. NFIB/Alaska succeeded in winning some fundamental changes in the state’s UI system that reduced the portion funded by the employer tax and required increased income in order to be eligible for benefits. NFIB/Alaska was also instrumental in pushing legislation to secure a deposit of $15.6 million federal stimulus funds into the unemployment insurance trust fund, which will keep premiums lower than expected.
Cut the Alaska business license fee by 50 percent
As with most states, Alaska requires a license to operate an enterprise. Although modest in cost ($100), NFIB pushed for a reduction to $50 – and succeeded – more a barometer to gauge the business mood of the Legislature. NFIB was able to leverage this victory for bigger successes in healthcare, workers compensation, and unemployment insurance.
