Congress Needs to Hear from You

Members of the U.S. House and Senate began their summer recess on August 1. Most are now in their home districts, so it’s the perfect time to contact your House and Senate representatives (find them at http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml) and tell them, via email, phone call, fax or letter, you do not want federally mandated health insurance provided by employers. At least not unless there’s an exclusion for companies with less than 100 employees.

Tell them you want smaller government, less federal spending and fewer mandates! And a balanced budget to boot. Tell them you will watch their votes and then vote for the representatives that share your views.

We, as small business owners, are perilously close to more costly government mandates. The Obama Administration has made broader health care one of their key initiatives. We agree with the goal but are worried about strapping businesses with the cost -- for good reason. The U.S. House recently unveiled a proposal that would penalize business owners who did not provide health insurance to their employees. Under this particular measure, employers with payrolls exceeding $400,000 would pay a penalty equal to 8 percent of the firm’s total annual payroll if the company failed to provide health insurance to all employees. Employers with payrolls between $250,000 and $400,000 would have to pay a smaller penalty and businesses with less than $250,000 in annual payroll would be exempt.

Don’t kid yourself. Voter contacts to representatives do make a difference. Your representatives DO want to get reelected. Tell them how you will vote.