Think back to last summer. The senate Democrats had a budget with $1.7 million in tax increases and the Republicans hated it. Then they snuck Healthy Wisconsin - that little $15 billion tax increase - into the budget and all hell broke loose. Long story short: We didn't get a budget until October. Well folks, Healthy Wisconsin is back, but don't expect it to go anywhere any time soon.
Introduced last week by state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Waunakee, many critics claim the senate Democrats are only bringing it back up for political reasons. Since the legislative session ends today, there just wasn't enough time to fully consider the bill, which made many Republicans cry afoul, saying it was nothing more than a campaign wedge issue. It probably didn't help that Erpenbach alluded to this in his press release.
This issue doesn't go away when we walk off the Capitol steps,"" he said. ""Every Legislator in this building that does doors this summer will hear about health care. I want people to ask them what they are going to do about this epidemic and I want the answer to be Healthy Wisconsin.""
Luckily, the senate Democrats didn't push for a vote on the bill, so instead of saying, ""Republicans voted against health care,"" all they can say is, ""Here's our plan now vote for us."" According to Julie Laundrie, campaign spokesperson for Erpenbach, health care will be a campaign issue in the fall no matter what, which is why ""Healthy Wisconsin will be waiting on their desk when they come back,"" according to the release.
Yes, it's waiting for them - that $15 billion tax increase. Of course, Healthy Wisconsin's detractors are only saying that to scare you, just as they did last summer. The truth is, althoughit does amount to a huge tax increase, it also saves money by replacing existing medical costs. With an estimated savings of $1,300 per family annually and $1.3 billion per year overall - half of which will go toward a property tax cut - Healthy Wisconsin definitely deserves our consideration in the next session.
There are also a few changes to the plan this time around, which is why it took so long to come to the floor.
The original plan had no provision to safeguard small businesses, which are less likely to provide insurance for their employees. Critics rightly argued the 10.5 percent tax Healthy Wisconsin adds to employers for health care would severely hurt small businesses.
To address this, the bill now includes a phase-in program, which requires small businesses - defined as employers with 10 or fewer employees - to pay just one-third of the cost the first year, two-thirds the second and the full cost in the third. The AFL-CIO, which testified in favor of the bill at a hearing on Monday, called this addition ""especially important.""
The new bill also addresses a major concern from the employee side. In addition to the 10.5 percent tax on employers, Healthy Wisconsin puts a 4 percent tax on workers' Social Security wages. Again, critics rightly argued this would put added stress on dual-income households. The new version fixes this by capping it at 4 percent per household rather than per individual.
Democrats will run on Healthy Wisconsin in the fall and, just like they did last summer, the two sides will spar, often repeating the same old talking points. But we don't need any more talking points. Health-care costs are spiraling out of control and Healthy Wisconsin has a way to change that.
In January 2009, when the next legislative session starts, I urge Erpenbach to make this Senate Bill 1. It deserves extensive consideration and examination to make it the best it can possibly be. If he were to procrastinate and, I don't know, stick it into the budget at the last minute again, it'd only serve to prove the critics right. No more politics - let's get serious about Healthy Wisconsin next January.
Erik Opsal is a senior majoring in journalism and political science. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
