Pressure Rises as Wal-Mart Vote Nears

Md. Bill on Health Benefits Triggers a Deluge of Lobbying and Attention

Eyes across the nation will be on Annapolis this week as Maryland lawmakers determine the fate of a bill that would force Wal-Mart to spend more on employee health care.

Both the retailing giant and national labor unions have been airing radio ads on the issue. Legislatures in 30 other states are considering following Maryland's lead. And John Edwards, the Democrats' 2004 vice presidential nominee, offered words of encouragement for bill supporters during an appearance last week at a fundraiser in the state.

The outcome, however, will ultimately be decided by a few members of the House of Delegates who are being heavily lobbied by both sides.

"I'm feeling a little bruised," said Del. Sue Kullen (D-Calvert), one of those who have heard from a parade of health care activists and labor leaders supporting the bill and from Wal-Mart lobbyists and big-business representatives opposing it.

At issue is whether to override Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s spring veto of the bill, which requires three-fifths votes from both chambers.

The Senate met that threshold when it passed the legislation last year and is expected to override Ehrlich (R) on Thursday, the day after the General Assembly's 90-day session opens.

The real battle is shaping up in the House, which fell one vote short of a veto-proof margin last spring, although a few delegates sympathetic to the bill were absent. Bill supporters say they are cautiously optimistic that they will have enough support to prevail in a vote expected Friday. "But I won't be certain until we get everyone down here," House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) said. "It will be very close."

The legislation would require private companies with more than 10,000 employees in Maryland to spend at least 8 percent of payroll on employee health benefits or make a contribution to the state's insurance program for the poor. Wal-Mart is the only known employer that does not meet that requirement.

The legislation has resonated in Maryland and beyond in part because it is a relatively easy way for lawmakers to expand access to health care and because Wal-Mart, a company with a reputation for stingy benefits, is considered an easy target. Democrats are also seeking to appeal to working-class families, a key segment of the electorate for the party.

Labor unions raised the stakes yesterday, with the chapter of the AFL-CIO that operates in Maryland and the District announcing that it will not support the reelection of any lawmaker who does not vote to override Ehrlich's veto. "The failure to stand with us means we will not be standing with you in the elections of 2006," said Fred D. Mason, the group's president.

And at competing news conferences yesterday, both sides claimed the backing of small businesses.

Maryland's chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, which bills itself as the state's largest small-business organization, presented several business owners who expressed fears that the so-called Wal-Mart bill is only a first step.