05/06/2005
In April, lawmakers in Maryland passed what has been touted as one of the most anti-business bills to hit the state in the last decade: the Fair Share Health Care Act.
Under this “Pay or Play” legislation, if an employer does not pay for a specific level of health-care benefits, then they will be subject to a payroll tax, which will then be used to fund the state health-care delivery system.
One employer that has become the target of this type of legislation in Maryland and several other states is Wal-Mart. Maryland lawmakers said they did not aim to single out Wal-Mart when they passed the legislation requiring companies that employ more than 10,000 workers to spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on health benefits or put the money directly into the state's health program for the poor; however, Wal-Mart is the only company in the state that will be affected. All other companies of this size in Maryland already meet the requirements of the bill.
When asked if they would support this bill, 86 percent of NFIB/Maryland members said they oppose it. When the stakes changed to employers of 10,000 employees or more, 68 percent of Maryland members still said they would not support the measure.
NFIB/Maryland State Director Ellen Valentino said the member vote does not come in support of Wal-Mart, but instead against the pay-or-play legislation. NFIB continues to oppose Wal-Mart’s agenda and gives special attention to raising concerns about state and local tax incentives that only benefit Wal-Mart.
“We will continue to oppose government-run health care, a system that imposes a new mandate or results in a penalty of a payroll tax,” Valentino said.
In Maryland and beyond, NFIB realizes this type of legislation hampers business development.
“This legislation has a detrimental effect on the state’s ability to attract and create business,” said Steve Woods, NFIB’s vice president for state public policy.
And what’s worse, Woods said, is that there is nothing to stop lawmakers from lowering the threshold of the bill to include small businesses once it has passed.
Additionally, this legislation distracts lawmakers from one of small business’ key initiatives: affordable health-care options.
There’s another type of health-care bill out there that threatens small business: the Medicaid-reporting legislation. This type of bill, which has different thresholds – some as low as 25 employees – would require health services to get the name of the employers of people who use free care.
With limited, expensive health-care options, many small-business owners cannot afford to provide their employees with the health insurance they would like, forcing many small-business employees to seek care at such facilities.
This “Scarlet-Letter approach,” Woods said, is just another way that lawmakers are procrastinating about the health-care problem that business owners face everyday.
Watch your state’s legislature in the upcoming months – with legislation under consideration in about 25 states, a "Wal-Mart" bill may be headed your way. Tell your lawmakers this legislation is bad for small business.
