Wal-Mart Update
SB 790 should be coming up for a vote to override Gov. Ehrlich's veto today. You'll recall that this is the bill that singles out Wal-Mart to pay additional taxes for not forcing enough of it's employees to fess up 11 bucks a month for health insurance. And they're following their previous pattern of misleading press releases:
On the CNBC "Street Signs" program this afternoon, Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich danced around the issue of his financial relationship with Wal-Mart Stores. Ehrlich is now fighting to stop a legislative override of his veto of the "Fair Share Health Care Fund Act" that would require Wal-Mart to pay a minimum amount for employee health care benefits as do other large employers in Maryland.
Despite the Governor's evasion of the facts, the public deserves to know that Wal-Mart hosted a fundraising reception on behalf of the Governor on December 15, 2004, just months before he vetoed the health care bill. The invitation makes it very clear that Wal-Mart is the sponsor of the $1,000 per person event and that the Governor is the beneficiary since it states, "Make Checks Payable to Bob Ehrlich for Maryland Committee." A copy of the invitation is below and available on http://www.ufcw.org.
The 825,000 Marylanders who lack health insurance deserve to know the true financial relationship between the Governor and Wal-Mart Stores as he fights against the legislation that will provide fair health care for all the state's citizens, even those who work for Wal-Mart.
The "invitation" mentioned can be read here. Please note the date of the event - December 15, 2004. UFCW er, WakeUpWalMart would have you believe that the event was a secret back-door payback for a veto that wasn't to occur until "just months" later. Actually, the event was covered by local media, and far from secret. The deserving public already knew. And it was planned over six months before the veto. This is very old news, folks. For UFCW to regurgitate this old story as new is simply dishonest.
Wakeupwalmart would also have you believe that this is about 825,000 underinsured Marylanders. It's not. Wal-Mart only employs around 15,000 in Maryland, and many of those are already insured. The only thing wakeupwalmart cares about is growing the ranks of the UFCW - which has proven to be difficult in this age of shrinking unions.
I'll be checking periodically to see about the vote, and you'll be able to see it here soon after I hear of the results. In the meantime, there are a couple of interesting views on the issue in the editorial pages today. The first is from the Washington Post:
"Maryland's legislature passed the bill last year, but Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) vetoed it. Lawmakers, urged on by big unions, appear on the verge of overriding the veto despite furious lobbying by Wal-Mart. The legislators, joined by Giant Food (Wal-Mart's unionized competitor), insist disingenuously that they are not singling out the big-box retailer but are merely setting a standard. Yet hundreds of smaller companies in Maryland that fail to meet the 8 percent spending threshold for health care are untouched by the legislation; in total their uninsured employees may be a greater drain on the state's health system than Wal-Mart's. The bill's backers say that Wal-Mart, because it is so large, bears a special obligation to set a good example. But since when do states have the right to penalize firms simply because they are big and successful?"
Read the whole thing. The point about Food Giant shouldn't be missed - I wonder how many fund-raisers Wal-Marts competitors organized last year?
The other, by Len Nichols shows up in the Baltimore Sun:
Now Wal-Mart, because it is so efficient, can afford to pay more for health care. But suppose we made it pay more - then what? Prices would rise and wages would fall. This would hurt Wal-Mart consumers and workers, most of whom are low-income, the very group we are all trying to help.
Please note that Len appears to be no friend of Wal-Mart, but still thinks this is bad legislation.
I agree, and hope it doesn't pass.
