NFIB State Director Gregg Thompson said today the organization is key-voting Senate Bill 24, a measure that would help small businesses continue providing health benefits to their employees by limiting costly new mandates that could force them to reduce benefits or drop coverage altogether.

“By ‘key-voting’ Senate Bill 24, we’re reminding Senate members that small business owners overwhelmingly support this important legislation and that we’ll report each and every vote on this bill to our members, their constituents,” Thompson said.

“Small business owners have struggled for years with rising health insurance costs, making it harder and harder for them to offer coverage,” he said. “Government-imposed mandates often lead to higher premiums, leaving owners with three bad options: absorb the cost, pass the cost on to employees, or stop offering coverage entirely.”

SB 24 would require that any new health insurance mandates introduced in the General Assembly be offset by repealing an existing mandate of equal or greater cost. It would also ensure that the state fully funds the cost of any new mandates, preventing the financial burden from being passed on to small businesses.

“We can’t let well-intended but costly mandates stop small businesses from providing benefits to their employees,” Thompson said. “Senate Bill 24 helps keep coverage affordable so more small businesses can continue to offer it. That’s why our members are urging their representatives to vote yes on SB 24.”