Builders Continue to Battle Unfair Health Care Provision
At last week's International Builders' Show in Las Vegas, NAHB issued a grassroots alert to our members and promoted a Grassroots Letter Writing Booth on the exhibit floor focusing on the health care issue. Specifically, builders were asked to contact their members of Congress and urge them to strip an amendment from the Senate-passed health care bill written by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). The Merkley language unfairly targets small construction firms by requiring them to provide health insurance or face stiff fines if they employ more than five workers. Meanwhile, small businesses in all other industries would be exempt from providing mandatory health coverage if they employ 50 workers or less.
Thousands of letters were sent to members of Congress explaining how this amendment threatens the viability of countless small home builders across the nation and calling on Congress to strip this provision from the final health care bill.
Complementing the grassroots push at the IBS, NAHB continues to work with lawmakers in both chambers to send a message to the Democratic leadership to delete the Merkley language from the final legislation. In the House, Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) took the lead in sending a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) urging them to eliminate the Merkley amendment from the final measure. In the letter, Gordon and 15 other House members characterized this as a "potentially devastating provision" that "unjustly targets an industry trying to keep its doors open during the worst downturn since the Great Depression."
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) spearheaded a parallel effort in the Senate. Lincoln, along with Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) sent a similar letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in mid-January.
Meanwhile, Republican Scott Brown’s stunning upset last week in the special election to fill the Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat vacated by the death of Edward Kenney gives the GOP 41 Senate seats and has complicated efforts for the Democrats to get the 60 votes they need for a sweeping health care bill. As Congress mulls how to move forward on health care, NAHB remains vigilant and will continue to lead the fight with other like-minded business groups to ensure that the Merkley language is eliminated from any final health care legislation to emerge from Congress.
To view the Senate health care legislation, click here and type the bill number H.R. 3590 in the box at the center of the page. For more information, contact Carlos Gutierrez at 800-368-5242, ext. 8242.
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