Romney is urged to veto health fee
Conservatives hit employer assessment
Caught between his support for expanded health coverage and his opposition to tax increases, Governor Mitt Romney is being urged by fiscal conservatives to veto part of a sweeping healthcare proposal because they say it includes a tax on businesses.
Grover Norquist -- an influential antitax advocate who is president of Americans for Tax Reform, based in Washington, D.C. -- called on Romney yesterday to resist a proposal to continue an assessment on businesses that the state charges to help finance the free-care pool used to reimburse hospitals.
The healthcare plan, written by the Democrat-dominated Legislature, would keep the current $62 per employee assessment and add a $295 per employee assessment on certain companies that do not provide health coverage for their workers.
''I hope we can avoid the Democratic desire to turn this into a tax increase," said Norquist, who is often described as an architect of President Bush's massive federal tax cuts.
As the legislation heads to his desk, Romney, who is exploring a presidential campaign, is being forced to weigh a delicate political decision: accept the Democratic plan and open himself to attacks from the Republican right or veto a plan that he wants to tout as a legacy of his tenure as governor.
Norquist suggested that Romney use his line-item veto power to reject the appropriation that would be funded by the assessment. That would allow Romney to avoid potential political fallout among tax-cut advocates that he would face on the campaign trail. The veto would probably be easily overridden in the Legislature. Those involved in the negotiations in Massachusetts say they have suggested a similar strategy.
''That would be the best of both worlds," Norquist said, asserting that the governor would get his healthcare bill while standing up to the Democrats.
''It's not his responsibility that the Republicans are in the minority in the Legislature," Norquist said. ''If he gets overriden, that is not his fault. It could be a centerpiece of how he governs in a state with strong opposition party."
Romney is also facing pressure from the state's leading antitax group, Citizens for Limited Taxation, which has denounced the health bill's financing proposal. The group also opposes the $295 assessment the plan would impose on firms with more than 10 employees that don't offer insurance.
''The $62 is a tax, a bad tax," said Barbara Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation. ''Adding a new $295 tax for companies that do not provide health insurance is adding another bad tax to an existing bad tax, so Massachusetts should repeal the $62 and not assess the $295."
Anderson said that healthcare reform should be addressed on a national level and not by individual states. ''If the final bill looks like the bill that is presently being floated, Governor Romney should veto it, then address it as President of the United States," she said.
Norquist diverges from Anderson's position in that he supports the $295 assessment on firms that do not provide insurance to workers. ''We encourage the Legislature to drop that [the $62 per worker assessment] tax in return for the tax on those people who don't provide insurance," he said. Norquist said other changes are also necessary, including tort reform to cut down on malpractice cases.
Romney and his Republican allies failed this week to persuade Democratic leaders to reduce or eliminate the $62-per-worker fee on companies that already provide health insurance to their workers. The governor wants the business assessment restructured so that it does not raise new revenue and therefore could not be characterized as a new tax.
GOP lawmakers say Romney is waiting to see what the Legislature produces. Negotiators are putting the final touches on the bill, which may be considered next week.
''We got 90 to 95 percent of what the administration wanted," said Senate minority leader Brian P. Lees. ''I respect the governor waiting to see what the final version says." 