In a much welcome act that caught both labor groups and House members off guard, Speaker Kiss and others offered an amendment to address the long debated PEA problem.
House members late Wednesday evening voted unanimously to amend HB 4654 to include the following language . . . "Provided that the aggregate premium cost-sharing percentages between employers and employees scheduled to be at a level of twenty percent for employees by the first day of July two-thousand six shall be offset, in part by the legislative appropriations for that purpose, prior to the first day of July two-thousand six."
In essence the legislation proposed will fund the twenty percent level of employees enrolled in Public Employees Insurance Agency. The anticipated cost to the state is believed to be between $8-14 million, with funding appropriations from current revenue surplus.
The bill as amended now moves to the Senate for consideration.
