Md. Senate Overrides Governor's Veto on 'Wal-Mart Bill'

The Maryland General Assembly overrode Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s veto of a bill requiring Wal-Mart to pay more for employee health care.

The bill will require private companies with more than 10,000 employees in Maryland to spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on employee health benefits or make a contribution to the state's insurance program for the poor. Wal-Mart, which employs about 17,000 Marylanders, is the only known company of such size that does not meet that spending requirement.

The Baltimore Sun

It now becomes law and a model for more than 30 other states, which are expected to take up similar legislation in the coming months. But it might have more immediate consequences in Maryland, where some leaders fear Wal-Mart will withdraw its plans to open a proposed distribution center that would, if built, bring nearly 1,000 new jobs to the Eastern Shore.