[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 79 (Tuesday, June 21, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        OPPOSE EMPLOYER MANDATES

                                 ______


                            HON. RON PACKARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 21, 1994

  Mr. PACKARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my grave concerns about 
employer mandates to finance health care reform. Employer mandates are 
just another burden on businesses already straddled with other 
Government mandates and regulations. This method of financing will have 
a disastrous effect on our labor force and will result in massive job 
loss.
  Under the Clinton plan, employers will have to pay 80 percent of the 
cost of average insurance for their employees. Most of this money will 
come from a worker's paycheck, not from the employer's profits or by 
higher prices. The cost of such a mandate would be passed on in reduced 
wages, or in the case of many lower-income employees, loss of their 
jobs. A study by the American Legislative Exchange Council projects 
that in my State of California, 114,000 Jobs will be lost while over 
2.8 million workers would face reduced wages, hours, or benefits. A 
very grim forecast.
  Who are the workers most fearful of losing their jobs because of 
employer mandates? More than 75 percent of the lost jobs will be in 
industries such as restaurants, retail trade, and construction. These 
industries employ large numbers of low wage workers, people who would 
suffer the most from the loss of their jobs if employer mandates were 
in effect. In the restaurant industry alone, labor costs would rise by 
more than 19 percent, thus reducing or eliminating many part-time 
positions, the bulk of their employees.
  Mr. Speaker, employer mandates would be one of the worst ways to 
finance health care reform. Instead of providing employers with new 
health benefits, it would jeopardize the most important benefit they 
have: A job. I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing employer 
mandates in any health care reform legislation.

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