That law passed earlier this year in Maryland which singled out Wal-Mart for not providing as much in the way of health insurance benefits as Big Labor thinks appropriate has been struck down by a federal judge on the grounds that it is incompatible with the federal ERISA statute. You can read about it here.
Naturally, the meddlers at the AFL-CIO who want to use the law to accomplish what they can’t get through voluntary action are whining about how “big companies” should be compelled to pay their “fair share.” The response to that is simple: employee compensation packages are none of the government’s business at all.
My only regret here is that the judge chose to invalidate the law on narrow grounds of federal pre-emption rather than the broader ground that this sort of vendetta by legislation is an unconstitutional denial of equal protection of the law.
