Unions
and the “Fair Share Health Care Act”
February 28,
2006
The Unions
are at it again. Today they are in Florida holding press conferences
at UNITED-HERE Orlando offices pushing for large companies to provide
health care benefits for employees. Legislation has been filed known
as the “Fair Share Health Care Act” that would impose a health tax in
Florida of 7% to 8% to pay for health care coverage for employees. This
would be the first time in Florida history that a payroll tax has been
levied on employers and the first time that employers have been required
to provide health care to their employees. While proposed legislation
covers only employers with 10,000 and more employees, history tells
us the proponents are subtly trying to get their “foot in the door.”
Union leaders are fighting
a lost battle. Currently 30 states are being targeted with “Fair Share
Health Care Act” legislation. HB 813 by Representative
Susan Bucher (D-West Palm Beach) and SB 1618 by Senator Skip Campbell (D-Tamarac) have already been
filed in Florida. Ten state legislatures have already dealt significant
setbacks to employer mandate bills. Those states are Colorado, Indiana,
Kansas, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Virginia, Washington, West
Virginia and Wisconsin. The backers of the “Fair Share Health Care Act”
know these bills aren’t real solutions, just political attacks and poor
public policy. By forcing businesses to spend an arbitrary amount of
their payroll on health care, these bills discourage businesses from
offering higher quality coverage at a lower cost. Even worse, these
bills will do nothing to make health care more affordable and accessible.
Every working family and business in America is struggling with the
soaring cost of health care. This country needs real solutions to this
daunting challenge. We need real leadership and a new commitment between
government and business to solve our nation's health care challenges.
AIF has created a Health Care Task Force which has already begun meeting
to address important issue. If you are interested in participating in
the Health Care Task Force, please contact Jose Gonzalez at (850) 224-7173
or jgonzalez@aif.com
