Partnership Opposes Walmart Bill

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Health care proposal will devastate small businesses

June 20, 2006

Whoever dubbed the health care proposals before the State Legislature the "Wal-Mart Bills" was extremely clever. One of the proposed versions of the bill will do great harm to many Buffalo Niagara companies that employ as few as 100 people - a far cry from Wal-Mart's 10,000 employees (and multibillion-dollar earnings).

Yet supporters still claim its purpose is to stop the practice of big-box retailers turning their employees over to the state's health plan rather than providing health insurance themselves.

Unfortunately, in Albany, proposed legislation targeting big-box retailers has morphed into a specifically onerous bill that would hurt all businesses with 100 or more employees. It mandates a charge of $3 per employee per hour - even if those businesses already provide health insurance.

If the bills' supporters think it will help workers, they are sorely mistaken. By forcing smaller employers to pay this extra cost - on top of a laundry list of business regulations and fees, including workers' comp and the highest taxes in the nation - they are only encouraging them to close up shop and move to more business-friendly states.

Thousands of people who had jobs - with health insurance - will join the unemployment ranks as a direct result. In the end, the ones who will suffer most are the workers that this legislation is supposed to protect.

To put this into perspective: Buffalo Niagara Company X employs 115 people and already provides them health insurance. Regardless, if this proposal becomes law, Company X will receive a bill from Albany for $3 per employee per hour - for a total of $717,600 a year. While supposedly those funds eventually will be returned in the form of a "rebate," such funds will be taken directly out of Company X's cash flow. And one can only imagine the red tape involved in trying to recover that money from Albany.

For the record, there's no similar law in North Carolina, Arizona or Pennsylvania that takes $3 per employee per hour out of a company's cash flow each year.

Charging businesses that already provide health insurance this ridiculous fee is a clear demonstration of the misguided state of our state. There are several versions of this health care legislation that exist, but somehow this one, with its directly adverse impact on the small business community, is being pushed to the forefront.

Originally, most observers thought this version of the bill was so oppressive that it was nothing more than a negotiating tactic. Suddenly, its supporters have carried it to the forefront, and the possibility of this burden being inflicted on the business community is very real.

If the intent is to stop unethical practices by big-box retailers, then the legislation should be kept at that. The collateral damage caused by this law will be irreparable.

The name has to go, too. Something like the "Why are you still doing business in New York State? Bill" might be more appropriate.

Craig W. Turner

Government Affairs Manager