Issue of the Week: Small Businesses Get Health Insurance Relief

Oneof the most challenging things about running a small business is providingadequate health care coverage for employees. Since the pool of workers is sosmall, these companies just don’t have the large risk pool that bigcorporations or institutions have and they wind up with low-quality or veryexpensive policies. Well, that’s changing as we speak, thanks to nationalhealth care reform passed this year. Beginning in 2010, businesses with fewerthan 25 workers who make on average less than $50,000 will be eligible for atax credit for the health insurance they provide to their workers. That creditcan go as high as 35% of the cost of the policyand the smallest companiesstand to gain the most. A new report from Families USA and Small BusinessMajority found that 87% of small businesses in Wisconsin will be eligible for thisbenefitroughly 86,000 small firms. Then, in 2014, these businesses will beable to purchase policies on the soon-to-launch health insurance exchanges.

Sowhen you hear tea partiers and Republicans decrying “Obamacare” and the“government takeover of health care,” think about the small-business owners andentrepreneurs who will benefit this year from health care reform. Theyandtheir employeeswill thrive, thanks to the government’s help.

Event of the Week

Riverwest Neighborhood AssociationBenefit

Bordered on the north byCapitol Drive,the west by Richards Street,and the east and south by the MilwaukeeRiver, Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood is adiverse, eclectic, mixed-income enclave. Home to some of the city’s mostpopular events, such as Locust Street Festival, Rockerbox Motorcycle Show &Street Party (Aug. 7) and this weekend’s 24-hour bicycle race (RW24), Riverwestis a vibrant residential community. 

The RiverwestNeighborhood Association (www.my-rna.org) will host a fund-raiser Friday, July30, at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn (1001 E. Locust St.). Beginning “around 8:30 p.m.” andfeaturing music from Uncle Larry, the event aims to raise money for a color mapand guide to the many unique businesses and events in this one-of-a-kindneighborhood.

Hero of the Week

Sherry Allen

The Salvation Army ofGreater Milwaukee relies on volunteers to help with its many programs andservices, such as its “Feed the Kids” summer meals program that delivers morethan 90,000 lunches to area children. For the past seven years, Sherry Allen,together with her husband and eight children, has been helping to distributefood to those in need.

Salvation Army CommunityRelations Director Faithe Colas says Allen is “extremely committed to thecommunity.” In addition to working a full-time job, Allen makes time tovolunteer at the Salvation Army’s food pantry, assist in the Christmas FamilyFeast, help with the “Coats for Kids” drive and wrap toys for children ofincarcerated parents. “I can’t begin to describe her level of volunteerism,”Colas adds.

Readers who wish to joinAllen and her family of super-volunteers in staffing the Salvation Army’sprograms are encouraged to call (414) 302-4300 or visit www.samilwaukee.org.

Jerk of the Week

Senate Candidate RonJohnson

Somuch for principles! Multimillionaire businessman Ron Johnson, who told areporter he supports drilling for oil “where it is”including the GreatLakesalso happens to own between $116,000 and $315,000 in BP stock, a companyhe’s defended since its disastrous oil spill in the Gulf. So the right thing todo would be to sell the stock or to put it in a blind trust just to prove thathis investment doesn’t have any impact on his political views, right? Well, notso fast. Johnson has toyed with selling the stock and the blind trust concept,but he has done neither. His latest line is to say that he might sell the stockto help finance his campaign (which he’s already loaned at least $1.4 millionto). “I think that’ll eventually happen,” Johnson said to Wispolitics.com aboutselling the stock, “but I’m going to do it based on market conditions.” So hemay do the right thingprovided the price is right.