Shurtleff Calls on Bennett to Stop Pushing Job-Killing Taxes
Salt Lake City - The jobless rate has climbed to 9.8%, a 26-year high. In response to the news, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has called upon Senator Bob Bennett, once again, to end his sponsorship of a bill that would make the unemployment lines even longer.
Senator Bob Bennett co-sponsors the Healthy Americans Act (HAA) with Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon. Bennett's bill would mandate employers pay a portion of their employee's health benefits. The amount owed by the employer increases with each additional employee and as the business' revenue per employee grows.
For example, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program’s BlueCross BlueShield Plan, which plan is the minimal standard for a government-approved insurance plan in Bennett's bill, had an estimated annual premium of $4,282 in 2007 for individual coverage, according to the Heritage Foundation. A business that employs 50 people and whose revenue per employee was in the 81st percentile nationally would owe the IRS 10% or $21,410 for the year as its "Employer Shared [Insurance] Responsibility Payment". If that same business wanted to hire a 51st employee, it would be required to pay the IRS an additional $214.10 annually for insurance benefits for the 50 people already employed, plus another $432.48 for the new hire's benefits – for a total tax hike of $646.58 to hire a new employee.
Shurtleff remarked, "Bob Bennett's bill is completely backwards. The nation has a 9.8% jobless rate and he wants to create a tax disincentive for employers to create more jobs. It's the wrong approach at the worst time."
Shurtleff went on to explain that if that same company of 50 people hadn't previously provided a health benefit to employees, the whole $21,410 would be a new expense three years after enactment of the bill. He said, "If Bennett's bill passes, it will increase overhead costs while doing nothing to increase revenue. Without a doubt, that's a prescription for job losses." Shurtleff noted that there is an exception. One industry will experience job growth, the IRS. The Lewin Group, a Washington DC think tank specializing on health issues, estimated that the IRS would have to expand 25% to cover the cost of administering subsidies and collecting health insurance premiums. "In his first campaign Bob Bennett wanted to reduce the size of the IRS, now he wants to grow it by 25%. I guess 18 years in DC has changed his perspective."
Mark Shurtleff supports health care reform that increases the portability of insurance for individuals, allows individuals and small businesses to fully claim the same tax deductions large corporations currently enjoy, removes limitations on health savings accounts (HSAs), puts an end to outrageous malpractice damage awards, and allows for communities and groups to unite in associated health plans – all provided the reform package doesn’t give government the authority to force Americans to buy health insurance, create another subsidy through the redistribution of wealth to satisfy another government mandate, or cause job losses.
On May 20, 2009, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff announced his candidacy to the United States Senate. He faces three-term incumbent Bob Bennett at the Republican State Nominating Convention next May. If no candidate receives 60% of the vote at convention they could faceoff in a closed Primary election in June.
