FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—November 7, 2006                            Contact: Brendan LaCivita

National Chamber Litigation Center Urges Federal Appeals Court to Reject Maryland’s Fair Share Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. — After filing an amicus brief in the case today, National Chamber Litigation Center (NCLC) Executive Vice President Steve Bokat issued the following statement on Retail Industry Leaders Association, et al., v. Fielder, a case challenging Maryland’s Fair Share Act, which could require large employers to earmark a percentage of payroll spending for health care costs or divert an equal amount of money into a fund to supplement the state’s Medicaid budget: 

“The U.S. District Court of Maryland rejected the law last July because it was preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. ERISA contains a preemption provision because Congress wanted to avoid a patchwork of state regulations with which national companies had to comply.

“If the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit does not reaffirm the lower court’s decision, this law will establish a template for state-by-state regulation of employer-sponsored health care plans. As a result, many multi-state employers will be subjected to substantive obligations that vary nationwide. Allowing state-by-state mandates for health plan coverage will result in some employers refusing to do business in states with health care benefit mandates. Therefore we urge the appeals court to reaffirm the lower court’s decision to support federal law and the Constitution.” 
 
NCLC—the public policy law firm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—is a membership organization that advocates fair treatment of business in the courts and before regulatory agencies. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

www.uschamber.com                                 # # #