A September 2 Gazette.Net article reported that the Montgomery County Council and County Executive Isiah “Ike” Leggett are considering legislation, proposed by Councilwoman Nancy Navarro, that would require waste and sanitation companies to provide their employees who work under a county contract with health insurance or a cash equivalent.

Leggett, [Navarro] said, supported her bill “in concept,” but expressed to her that, as written, it would prove cost-prohibitive to the county.

The councilwoman’s office is working with executive branch staff on language that would serve the same intent while assuaging the Executive’s concerns, she said.

Patrick Lacefield, Leggett’s spokesman, said staff are evaluating how many contractors the law would affect, surveying current benefits offered by contractors and looking at exactly where the line of “affordable” should be drawn.

“We’re supportive of everyone having access to affordable health care, including employees of county contractors,” he said. “We have to see what the cost of that would be.”

The article also noted that the proposed legislation is supported by the Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA).