A large union is promoting state bills that could require large, profitable companies to spend a minimum percentage of their payroll on employee health coverage.
The Service Employees International Union, Washington, has set up Americans for Health Care, a unit that will be promoting the Fair Share Health Care Act in more than 2 dozen states.
Gov. Robert Ehrlich, R-Md., already has vetoed a fair share bill in Maryland. The Americans for Health Care campaign will test its strength in Maryland next week, by asking the state legislature to overturn Ehrlich’s veto, according to Jonathan Parker, the campaign’s national director.
The Maryland bill would require profitable corporations with more than 10,000 employees to devote at least 8% of their payroll to covering their employees’ health care costs.
A survey has shown that 67% of voters throughout the United States “strongly support” the fair share concept, Parker says.