Report from the February 22 Committee Meeting

In Butler on February 22nd the Education and The Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions met in Butler to talk about the impact of Obamacare on local businesses.  Here’s part of what was said:

• “The Uncertainty Is Part of the Reason That We Are Using Temporary Services … Rather Than Adding Additional Employees.” Patti-Ann Kanterman, Chief Financial Officer of Associated Ceramics & Technology, Inc, a family-owned business with 41 employees, said “as more and more provisions” of ObamaCare are enacted “the uncertainty of offering insurance to our employees will increase,” and that “the uncertainty is part of the reason that we are using temporary services to fill our open positions and working overtime with our current employees rather than adding additional employees.” (Testimony, 2/22/12)

• ObamaCare “Will Force Our Company” to Either “Artificially Deflate Worker Hours” or “Hire Fewer Workers.” “Defining full-time for health care purposes as 30+ hours per week,” as ObamaCare does, “will force our company to do either two things: Artificially deflate worker hours to keep them underneath the 30 hour threshold because we can’t afford the additional premiums [or] hire fewer workers as a result of the increased costs of health care forced on us,” said Will Knecht, President of Wendell August Forge, a family-owned business with 120 employees.  (Testimony, 2/22/12)

• “Waldameer…Would Be Out of Business.” Paul T. Nelson, owner & CEO of Waldameer Park, Inc., an amusement park employing 18 full-time employees and approximately 400 seasonal employees, said “the simple fact is that we cannot afford health insurance for 400 part-time employees, and Waldameer, one of the main engines of promoting the tourist industry in NW Pennsylvania, would be out of business, and no one would benefit from this situation.” (Testimony, 2/22/12)

• “There Are So Many Regulations, Insurances and Taxes That It Is So Hard to Keep My Head Above Water.” ”Lori Joint, Director of Government Affairs at the Manufacturer & Business Association (MBA), said that the organization’s member companies “have been very clear in expressing their concern and uncertainty over the law and its potential implications and cost – causing many employers to hold off on plans for growth and investment in their business operations.”  Joint shared the experiences of several small business owners, including Elsie A. Mundkowsky, who says “I really don’t think that my business can handle much more out-of-pocket.  There are so many regulations, insurances and taxes that it is so hard to keep my head above water.” (Testimony, 2/22/12)

Additionally, a recent Chamber of Commerce survey found that 74 percent of small business owners say “the recent health care law makes it harder for their business to hire more employees.”