Governor Bars Health Benefit Bill

From the Associated Press

September 14, 2006

SACRAMENTO — Siding with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other large employers, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday vetoed legislation that would have required them to provide healthcare benefits for their employees or pay into a state health fund.

In a veto message, Schwarzenegger said the bill was the wrong approach to tackling spiraling healthcare costs.

"Singling out large employers and requiring them to spend an arbitrary amount on healthcare does nothing to lower costs or guarantee that even one more person has healthcare coverage," Schwarzenegger said.

Supporters had argued the bill was needed to prevent companies with at least 10,000 California workers from shifting their healthcare costs to public-assistance programs.

The bill, by state Sen. Carole Migden (D-San Francisco), would have required large companies to spend at least 8% of their total wages on health coverage for their workers or pay into a state fund to cover health programs.

"The governor's statement that the bill accomplishes nothing is a slap in the face of the 40,000 Wal-Mart employees, as well as thousands of others, who would have received real healthcare benefits," Migden said in a statement.