Yes! That cheer was likely heard in business offices across Maryland after word spread that a judge dismissed a state law, known as the Wal-Mart bill, that required companies to spend a percentage of their payroll on health care benefits.
“The cheering is being done because of the perception that state legislators have been chastened and are less likely now to take a hard-line stance against businesses,” said Anirban Basu, CEO of Sage Policy Group Inc., a Baltimore-based economic and policy consulting firm.
Judge J. Frederick Motz of the U.S. District Court in Baltimore ruled Wednesday that Maryland?s Fair Share Health Care Fund Act law is preempted by the Federal Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.
Aris Mellisarotas, secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, said ? despite the court ruling ? companies will likely continue to view Maryland as anti-business.
The legislation applied to non-government employers with more than 10,000 workers in Maryland.
Eligible companies must spend an equivalent of 8 percent of the total wages paid to employees in Maryland on health care benefits, according to the failed law.
Small businesses fear the state legislature would pass similar laws affecting them.
“”Business that do not provide insurance do so for a reason,” said Elizabeth Gaudio, counsel for the Maryland chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business. “They can?t afford to buy health insurance.”
