FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2006
Call to Action: Come to Olympia Monday to support Fair Share!
Health care bill gains momentum, votes as more legislators overcome skepticism

All union members, business owners, health care and community activists who support the Fair Share Health Care bills are urged to come to Olympia on Monday, February 13 for a special mass lobbying day on behalf of the legislation. There will be a meeting at the Capitol Rotunda at noon to discuss the bill's prospects for a floor vote before Tuesday's cutoff deadline and which state legislators need to hear from their constituents.

A number of state lawmakers who were initially skeptical about the Fair Share Health Care bills, SB 6356 and HB 2517, now say that they support them, and are calling for votes.

“I have had concerns about the Fair Share bill as presented in prior sessions,” said Rep. Jeannie Darneille (D-Tacoma).  “But after learning more about the 2006 proposed legislation -- and the growing problem of certain large employers shifting health-care costs onto taxpayers -- I've decided to support it, and I look forward to a vote.  I am a small business employer with more than 30 employees, and I budget 24 percent of their wages to support their benefit package. 
I feel the 9 percent proposed in this bill is fair.”

SB 6356 and HB 2517 would require businesses with 5,000 or more employees to spend at least 9 percent of their payroll costs on employee health care, or pay the difference into the state’s health care fund.  A similar law was enacted this year in Maryland and more than 30 other states are also considering such legislation.  Both Washington bills have been approved by committees and are awaiting floor votes.  The bills are supported by State Treasurer Mike Murphy and Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler.

"At a time when state government is struggling to afford its health care obligations and programs, it was very frustrating to learn the extent to which big companies are shifting their health costs onto taxpayers,” said Rep. Tom Campbell (R-Roy) who, like Rep. Darneille, didn’t co-sponsor the bill but now supports it.  “I’ve also been impressed by the number of business leaders who have stepped up to support the Fair Share bill and said, ‘This isn’t right. Everybody should be doing their fair share’.”

The Fair Share Health Care bills are part of a legislative package supported by a Coalition of business, labor, religious and community organizations that also includes restoring 10,000 Basic Health Plan slots, more coverage for uninsured children, and premium assistance to small businesses’ employees who are under 200 percent of the federal poverty level.  SB 2572, the Small Employer Health Insurance Partnership Program, has been approved, 57-41, by the House.

“I’m now convinced that this bill has enough support to pass,” said Rep. Brian Sullivan
(D-Mukilteo), another Fair Share supporter who isn’t among the House bill’s 24 co-sponsors.  “The more we learn about this cost-shifting problem and the erosion of health-care coverage, the more popular this idea gets.  I mean, why exactly are taxpayers spending $12 million a year to subsidize the largest corporation in the world?”

A new Senate report indicates that a handful of large employers offloaded about $25 million in annual costs to state taxpayers. Wal-Mart alone accounted for $12 million of that total, which does not include dependent costs or costs to the federal government.

In a recent national poll by Lake Research , 83 percent of Americans said that they support requiring large, profitable companies either to provide health insurance for their employees or pay a percentage of their payroll into a healthcare fund.

For details about the Fair Share bill and the Coalition’s four point plan to put the brakes on erosion of health coverage and begin addressing the needs of the uninsured please visit http://www.fairsharehealthcare.net

To view a TV ad on the issue, please visit http://www.ivotehealthcare.org

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2006
Tell Olympia: Restore 2-quarter averaging for jobless benefits

In 2003, our state's Unemployment Insurance system was gutted. Riding the coattails of a looming deadline on Washington’s bid for Boeing 7E7 assembly work, business interests rammed through an ill-conceived overhaul of the system -- one that didn't even get a public hearing -- in the legislature's second overtime session.  And the cost for working families was enormous. 

But last year, having realized that the benefit cuts were way more severe than necessary to create the new 40-rate tax system sought by the business community, the legislature passed EHB 2255 temporarily stopping two of the most extreme cuts. The bill left intact many of the 2003 cuts, but restored the "liberal construction" language -- meaning, in gray-area cases, the worker gets the benefit of the doubt, as they do in 43 other states. Plus, it restored two-quarter averaging for calculating benefits, but at a slightly lower multiplier than before. Only seven states use the most-punitive four-quarter formula imposed in Washington under the 2003 cuts.

But these changes that stopped the bleeding on UI benefits are only temporary, and will disappear next year if the legislature fails to act.

The state hired the nation's foremost expert on UI systems to conduct a fresh assessment of our state's UI system, its taxes and benefits, how it compares with other states, and to recommend changes to the legislature.  Dr. Wayne Vroman of the Urban Institute has completed this analysis and he reports: "The highest priority should be to restore two-quarter averaging as a permanent feature." (Learn more about Vroman's findings.)

SB 6885 would do just that. Sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle), it would make permanent the use of two-quarter averaging in the calculation of UI benefits and restore the "liberal construction" language. It has passed committee and could be voted upon by the House at any time.

TAKE ACTION:  Please call the Legislative Hotline TODAY at 1-800-562-6000 and leave a message for both of your State Representatives, your State Senator, House Speaker Frank Chopp, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown and the Governor saying you SUPPORT SB 6885. Tell them: "Approve SB 6885 and restore two-quarter averaging permanently."

Also, download and print a petition (in MS Word format) in support of restoration of two-quarter averaging, which is being circulated by the Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2006
Taxpayers hit by $25 million a year in health-care cost shifting

TAXPAYERS HIT BY $25 MILLION IN YEARLY COST SHIFTING
Fair Share bill will help protect taxpayers and stop erosion in health care

SEATTLE -- February 7, 2006 -- The Fair Share Health Care Bill gained momentum today after disclosure of nearly $25 million a year in health cost-shifting by large employers to state taxpayers.

The disclosure in a new Senate report showed that certain large employers are offloading significant health costs to the public and are taking advantage of businesses that provide decent health benefits.

"That staggering number shows why we need to act now to stop the erosion of health care in Washington State," said Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles. "Some out-of-state and international corporations are shifting their costs to our state's taxpayers -- and that's not right. That's unfair to taxpayers, and it's unfair to businesses that pay their fair share."

The Senate staff report was released at a press conference by Sen. Kohl-Welles, a prime sponsor of the Fair Share Bill, along with other legislators supporting the legislation. Kohl-Welles was joined by members of the Washington Fair Share Health Care Coalition.

The estimate for 2006 is the cost to the state for employees of four very large employers only. It does not include additional costs to the federal government or the state costs for dependents of those employees.

Don Barbieri, Spokane resident and chairman of Red Lion Hotels, said the numbers gave fresh evidence of why the Fair Share bill must pass.

The report shows the cost to taxpayers when several of the state’s largest companies provide inadequate health care coverage. Their employees are forced to seek publicly-funded health care insurance or are uninsured.

The greatest cost shifting is attributed to Wal-Mart, which has more than 3,100 employees in Washington who had to turn to taxpayer-funded health care plans, Medicaid and the Basic Health.

The Rev. John Boonstra, Executive Minister of the Washington Association of Churches, urged action on the Fair Share bill. Referring to the large number of uninsured families in Washington, Boonstra said, “We all share responsibility for responding to our state’s health care crisis – and that means talking about corporate responsibility.”

“We support the Fair Share Bill because it helps overburdened hospitals and because large corporations should be held accountable to minimum public standards,” he said.

The Fair Share Coalition includes many groups organizing support for Senate Bill 6356 and House Bill 2517, including businesses, doctors and nurses, seniors, community, labor and religious groups.

Companies that employ 5,000 or more would be required to spend at least 9 percent of their payroll on employee health care or pay the difference into the state’s health care fund. The vast majority of companies that size already meet the standard. The fair share bill is the cornerstone of a four point plan that seeks to address the growing number of uninsured children and adults in Washington state, now estimated at over 600,000.

Another bill backed by the coalition would provide assistance for small businesses that wish to provide decent coverage for employees.

Spokane business executive Don Barbieri puts it this way: "Large corporations, small businesses, government and individuals all have a responsibility to ensure every Washingtonian has access to basic health care.”

“The Fair Share Health Care Bill is a just and fair way to help employees of large businesses be healthy, and healthy employees make successful businesses,” Barbieri said. “But the Fair Share Health Care Bill is much more that just big business doing what’s right. This bill would help free up critical slots in the state’s Basic Health Program. “It could free up additional funding for companion legislation (HB 2572) and help more small businesses partner with government and employees to provide affordable health coverage.”

Diane Zahn, secretary-treasurer for UFCW Local 21, a member of the coalition, said the Senate staff report illustrates why the Fair Share bill is her union’s No. 1 priority in Olympia. “We’re running a statewide ad campaign to encourage voters to demand action on cost-shifting,” she said. “Let’s end this ‘race to the bottom’ in health care.”

Several prominent past and present state officials are backing the bill, including Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler and State Treasurer Mike Murphy.

Former State Budget Director Len McComb said large employers who are shifting health costs do so at the expense of taxpayers and other businesses. Representing the Washington State Hospital Association and the Community Health Network of Washington, McComb said the extra costs are often picked up by the state’s taxpayer-funded plans or by other employers who purchase private plans for their workers but face increased premiums to offset the expense of caring for other corporations’ employees who have no health insurance.

A growing number of legislators in Washington are supporting the Fair Share Health Care bills. They say inaction is unacceptable as the ranks of the uninsured keep growing. An estimated 100,000 children in Washington are uninsured.

To learn about the Coalition, please visit http://www.fairsharehealthcare.net/

To view UFCW’s TV ad, please visit http://www.ivotehealthcare.org.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2006
It's time for "Fair Share;" doing nothing is killing good jobs