Senator Moore recently received this e mail from a Milford Small Business President who offered to Senator Moore that small business legislation should not describe a small business as being one with "less than 500 employees."  Read the exchange between Senator Moore and the Milford constituent below:

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From: A Milford Small Business President
To: Senator Moore

Dear Senator Moore,

I am a constituent of yours, from Milford, and a member of the Milford Area Chamber of Commerce who has heard you speak at several Chamber functions regarding various issues. I recently read your article in the Editorial section of the Milford Daily News regarding some of the bills being filed by yourself and some of your colleagues, on behalf of small business. I want to thank you for truly representing the interests of “real” small business people, who are sometimes included in a category of “less than 500 employees” whenever I’ve read or heard about bills or ideas for small business. A company with 400 employees is not a small business. Every one of those bills sounds like “out of the box” thinking and I wish you luck in getting them established as law in 2010. The sooner the better.

A true small business that is growing and will eventually need more employees is actually less than 50 employees, in my opinion. I started a consulting engineering business here 9 years ago, almost went under in 2003, and then came out roaring in 2005 and I now employ 8 people, all of which make over $65,000 per year, in addition to hiring sub-contractors (other small businesses) to supplement our talents on particular projects. These are real jobs, full time jobs, and I can’t begin to tell you how many more business owners like myself that there are in this Commonwealth, especially in the region of the 495 Collaborative.

That having been said, an idea of mine would be to reduce or eliminate payroll tax burdens for businesses like mine. Maybe consideration can be given to a sliding scale of the % we would have to pay, based upon our volume of work and not so much on how many employees we have, or even a combination of the two. Even some of the bills mentioned in your article may be even more beneficial if participation in a program is gauged that way, because you can have a company with less than 50 employees doing $5M in gross sales or a company like mine that does slightly less than $1M. How is it fair that I would have to pay the same fees or tax burdens as the $5M company?

Another idea, is that instead of allowing Gov. Patrick to spend billions in stimulus money on “shovel ready projects”, why can’t we use some of that money as low interest loans or even grants to businesses like mine who could use a little infusion of cash to upgrade infrastructure, or education and training for existing employees, or expanding marketing efforts to achieve more volume which in turn would create a need for more employees. I fully appreciate that the bridges and roads of the Commonwealth are a major concern, but decades of deferred maintenance shouldn’t be corrected in a few short years at the detriment to those of us who use them. What good is it to have new bridges and roads if there’s nobody out there who can afford to drive on them?

I also think that you could share some of your ideas, maybe ideas like mine if they are warranted, with Rep. Neal and see what he may be able to accomplish on the Federal level, especially with regards to payroll burdens, etc. President Obama stated in his S.O.U. address that he wants job growth bills put on his desk. Cash for clunkers and any “single industry” bailout is money not well spent. They need to make it easier for very small businesses to flourish and prosper across the nation, not just in one single industry. If GM can’t manage their affairs, let them go under. Who’s going to come to the assistance of thousands of businesses like mine if we don’t manage our affairs properly?

I appreciate your time and the efforts that you have put into our region during these tough economic times and wish you luck in turning these bills into law.

A Milford Small Business President

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From: Senator Moore
To: Milford Small Business President

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. I agree that I don't think a 500 employee company is a small business, but that's the way Senator Timilty's bill is currently drafted. If it moves as part of a small business package, I would want to try to narrow the scope to not more than 50 employees.

Senator Richard T. Moore

In another e mail sent to Senator Moore, one of his constituents discusses the strain on his need to pay for insurance for his employees, and his hope that Senator Moore's legislation will move forward:

Senator Moore:

On the health care issue the cost is huge. I have paid for 100% of the cost of each of my employees since our incorporation in 1982. I currently support eleven families and our health care cost are out of control.

Health care is our largest overhead item and it frequently puts our prices higher than the computation who do not pay for health care. When You spearheaded the prior health care bill for everyone I thought that we would get some relief. However because I have been paying for health care all along we got no help at all. Hopefully this new bill will ease our pain and bring it into more manageable numbers

Senator Moore received another e mail from a Massachusetts resident from Marlborough who read Senator Moore's Op-Ed in the MetroWest Daily News.  The resident thanks Senator Moore for the offering the proposed legislation, and offers some additional thoughts:

State Sen. Moore,

Just read your piece in today's Metrowest Daily News on MA focus on jobs and economic growth. Recently, I called my State Representative Danielle Gregoire regarding the cost of health insurance for the self employed and small business and the lack of information from the MA Health Connector. Representative Gregoire's aide, Karen Kisty, had a representative of the Connector contact me. He informed me that the Connector does not offer small business plans. He told me that our legislature would be reviewing health care and small business in the near future.

The percentage premium increase for health care incurred by the self employed and small business in MA is unprecedented, and frankly, in my opinion, will become unsustainable. While the connector helps those who have no insurance to obtain insurance, it does not help those who are self employed or are small business owners. Therefore, this rather large pool of people, get their insurance either through their Chamber of Commerce or on their own. The proposed legislation, to design an "Affordable Health Plan" for our many self employed and small business owners is commendable. I hope this legislation includes preventative coverage, ie, diagnostic tests. Currently, to keep costs down, I have taken a $1,000 deductible policy, which is costing me 18% more this year than last year. However, my co-pays are more, so the increase is far more than the 18%. Obviously, when diagnostic tests are not included in the coverage, the individual is not getting health care, they are getting an insurance policy which will cover them if they become critically ill. This type of Health Care, costs our State of MA, and our country, far more then a true preventative plan. I must note, that I did find a direct care plan through FCHP for much less than the select plan I now have, it would have been perfect, minus the fact that there was no opthamologist in my area included in the plan. Seriously, it makes one wonder why this type of direct plan would even be offered to citizens in my area of metrowest, when it does not have one eye doctor in the area?

Thank you for your continuing efforts on this critical issue.

Sincerely,

A Marlborough Resident

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From: Senator Moore
To: Marlborough Resident

Dear Marlborough Resident:

Thank you for your e-mail. I share your frustration about the cost of health insurance. The good news, as mentioned in my Op-Ed in today’s Worcester Telegram & Gazette, is that the Commonwealth Health Connector will soon be launching Business Express, a program for small employers. Employers and their employers can enroll for an April 1 start date. By choosing one of the Connector’s plans, you can be assured that it has been vetted for quality and value. And, you can choose between gold, silver and bronze tiers to select the plan that most meets your needs and cost constraints. 

However, containing the escalating cost of health insurance continues to be an extremely important issue. I think of it as the continued implementation of Massachusetts Health Reform. My Affordable Health Plan legislation, recently reported favorably by the Committee on Health Care Financing, is intended to begin to address cost containment for small business. There is still much that needs to be done, and the state will begin a process to improve health care quality while containing costs with hearings set for the last two weeks of March. I am absolutely committed to the effort of controlling health costs and it will continue to be a priority for me in this legislative session and beyond.

Senator Richard T. Moore