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OPINION: Washington: the
state of jobs?
By Rep. Cary Condotta
I am a small business
owner – and in this state, that’s a pretty amazing accomplishment. Just
look at our obstacles to success. Washington has the highest minimum
wage in the nation. We have the nation’s only tax on gross business
income – so even if we end up in the red, we still pay tax on money we
never had in our pockets. If we buy medical insurance for our employees,
state law mandates it must cover 47 types of services, leaving us with
no way to buy a tailored and affordable plan covering only services our
employees want and need.
But it’s about to get
worse. Much worse. Because Democrat-sponsored job-killer bills are
making their way through the Legislature. If they become law, your
business – or your employer’s business, and by extension your job – is
in the cross-hairs.
One of the biggest disasters-in-waiting is the so-called “pay or play”
legislation. House Bill 1702 (and companion Senate Bill 5637) works this
way: every business with 50 or more employees would be forced to provide
health insurance for their employees (“play”) or be taxed a fee (“pay”).
The state would use the fee to expand Washington’s government-run health
care system, the Basic Health Plan.
Imagine you're a business
owner with 65 employees. Gotcha! This tax just added almost $15,000 to
your monthly expenses. What if you won’t – or can’t – pay the tax? The
200 percent penalty now brings your monthly tax bill to $30,000. But
here’s the most amazing part. You aren’t immune to this tax even if you
choose to purchase private health insurance for your employees. If you
get a great rate by shopping around, or because employees want to pay
more out-of-pocket for health care in exchange for higher salaries,
you’ll still have to pay the difference between your private insurance
rate and the state-dictated cost.
The non-profit Employment
Policies Institute estimates this legislation will wipe out up to 25,500
jobs and cost businesses $1.6 billion in the first year alone. And for
that we’d get coverage for just 3 percent of our state’s population.
Why? Because there’s a catch: employees working less than 86 hours per
month would not be eligible for coverage. That means employers would be
paying $285 million in taxes for some 250,000 ineligible employees – for
nothing in return. And it would only be a matter of time until the
under-50-employee crowd is hit with the same scheme.
Let’s be honest. This
legislation has nothing to do with finding private market solutions to
lower the cost of health care. This is about politics, not policy. The
goals are to force people onto government-run health care and punish
employers who aren’t providing insurance benefits. It’s also a way to
expand a massive state bureaucracy. This legislation is another step
toward government-run health care – and a step in the wrong direction.
Pay or play is not the
only job-killing measure lurking in the Legislature. Democrat-sponsored
House Bill 1173 (and Senate Bill 5069) would force all employers,
regardless of size, to provide five weeks of paid family medical leave
for workers. They would also be required to hold the job until the
employee returns – something that’s often very difficult for small
companies. Employers would administer, and employees would pay, a new
tax to foot the bill for the program, much like workers’ compensation.
It would cost $85 million to run in its first year, plus tens of
millions more to cover state employees.
These bills are worse than
job killers. They are perfect recipes for making sure jobs never get to
our state in the first place. They send employers eyeing Washington a
very clear message: State mandates are rampant in Washington, and
locating here will cost you more.
House Republicans have a
better plan for creating jobs and welcoming new companies to our state.
Among other ideas, we propose:
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Creating an Office of
Regulatory Reform to make state agencies more accountable when
imposing expensive regulations;
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Limiting state agency
rule-making authority;
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Expanding competition
and availability of affordable health care, including health savings
accounts for public and private employers;
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Keeping the minimum
wage to reasonable levels; and
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Adding certainty to
the calculation of workers’ compensation benefits.
I encourage you to talk
with your legislators about this issue. Tell them to steer clear of
job-killing bills, and instead adopt true reforms that will support
current businesses and help us recruit new ones. Otherwise, all we’re
doing is rearranging our deck chairs – on the Titanic.
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For more information, contact:
Bobbi Cussins, Public Information Officer: (360) 786-7252
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