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No to the taxing of health benefits

Passed by the Retired Teachers’ Chapter membership meeting on June 9, 2009 and now goes to the Delegate Assembly of the UFT.

WHEREAS: Congress is moving toward the taxing of employer-provided health benefits. The Washington Post reported that forteen senators were in favor of taxing health benefits including the influential Senator Max Baucus.

WHEREAS: Congress is seeking a way to fund universal health coverage and is having a supposedly hard time in finding revenue sources. Thus, many are looking for a revenue source in the taxing of health benefits. This would be a great financial burden on the middle class and in violation of President Obama’s pledge to decrease taxes for the middle class.

WHEREAS: Furthermore, it would fly in the face of President Obama’s opposition to the tax when he competed against John McCain who favored it.

WHEREAS: What is not said about taxing of employer provided health benefits is the fact that in contract negotiations with employers, employees chose tax free health benefits over other benefits. It would be unjust and unfair to tax health benefits since employees gave up benefits to secure the tax free benefit; therefore be it

RESOLVED: Since working people are feeling the brunt of the economic meltdown as well as the burden of taxation, we need to let the Administration and Congress know in no uncertain terms that we are absolutely opposed to the taxing of health benefits.