California Looks To Close A Loophole That Will Hit Corporations Where It Hurts, Their Profits

Millions of Americans are what are commonly referred to as the working poor.  These are workers who have jobs, yet do not make enough to get off government assistance programs.  Many corporations pay their employees the absolute minimum and refuse to even offer them healthcare leaving states to pick up the check with programs like Medicaid.  That could all change, at least in California. California legislators introduced a bill that would fine an employer up to $6000 per full-time employee who ends up on Medi-Cal.  This would force employers to pay workers enough money that they do not qualify for Medi-Cal any longer. Legislators in California say "this would eliminate a loophole in the Affordable Care Act that encourages large retailers and restaurant chains to dump hourly workers onto the government dole because there's currently no penalty for doing so." This is a fabulous idea.  It will do two things. It will help workers earn a truly living wage and lift them out of poverty.  It is also good financially for states like California who are strapped for cash.  This will remove people from their medicaid rolls or bring in enough money to cover their Medicaid costs and then some. The most offensive abusers of the current system are the large corporations like Wal-Mart. In Ohio nearly 50,000 workers are on Medicaid.  These 50,000 work at either Wal-Mart, McDonalds, Wendy's, Kroger, or Bob Evans.  All of these corporations are making substantial profits (some are not even paying anything back in federal taxes) and forcing the American people to supplement their low wages.  In California nearly "250,000 people from bigger companies receive Medi-Cal, research from UC Berkeley and UCLA shows, and about 44% of them work in retail or restaurants". The LA Times reported: "In 2004, UC Berkeley issued a report that found Wal-Mart workers' dependence on public programs in California, such as Medi-Cal and food stamps, cost taxpayers about $86 million annually. Nationwide, it estimated, the cost of public assistance to Wal-Mart workers could be as much as $2 billion annually." Since I have not seen the actual legislation I would like to know if the legislators have put in any protection for the workers who are going to be forced from Full-time to Part-time to avoid this new fine.  Wal-Mart for example is famous for hiring workers for 34 hours a week to avoid full time status.  Part-time employees at Wal-Mart are not given any healthcare. I would love to see this piece of California legislation move quickly to the national level.  If we could get Congress to pass something like this nationally it would immediately reduce the government payouts therefor reducing our federal budget. Ultimately this would lead to potential budget surplus and a mechanism to reduce our national debt.   It just proves that the way to really reduce our government expenditures and national debt starts with increasing worker wages and eliminating poverty.