Wal-Mart opponents suffer Maryland setback

Even though I was in Maryland last week, I had nothing to do with this news from the Old Line State.

From Reuters:

In a victory for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., a federal judge on Wednesday struck down a new Maryland law that required the giant retailer to provide health insurance for its employees in the state.

Shares of Wal-Mart rose $1.00, or 2.3 percent to $44.17 on news of the ruling, on the New York Stock Exchange shortly before the market closed.

U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz in Baltimore ruled that a 1974 federal law trumped the Maryland state law, which had been backed by labor groups.

The state legislature in January overrode a veto by Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich to approve a law requiring companies with more than 10,000 employees to spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on health benefits. Alternatively, big employers could pay the balance into a state low-income health insurance fund, according to the law.

Read my post below--especially if you're a Chicago alderman. There is a higher authority in this world than Chicago's city council chambers.

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