Several state and local officials held a legislative town hall meeting at the state Capitol Wednesday to urge Wal-Mart to revamp its employment policies, especially those regarding health care.

State Reps. Mark Pocan and Terese Berceau, both D-Madison; Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay; and former Jefferson Ald. Dave Olsen hosted the meeting, denouncing the multi-billion-dollar corporation.

Wal-Mart either fails to give many employees health insurance or provides them with inadequate insurance, Berceau said, which leaves the state to foot the bill for the employees and their families' medical expenses.

"We believe people should have health insurance," Berceau said. "But when we have a company that made $10 billion last year, they should be helping out by paying for health insurance."

According to a statistic provided at the meeting, 52 percent of Wal-Mart workers do not have health insurance.

The meeting was sponsored by Wal-Mart Watch — an organization whose mission is to shed light on perceived injustices in the business practices of Wal-Mart — as part of its "Higher Expectations" week aimed at rallying support in all 50 states to urge the company to review its employment practices.

Buffering allegations, Nate Hurst, a spokesperson for Wal-Mart, said the corporation has been vital to Wisconsin and its people.

"Wal-Mart is proud to employ over 27,000 Wisconsin citizens, which makes us the largest private employer in the state," Hurst said. "We will continue to do our part to help grow the economy in Wisconsin."

However, Hansen said though Wal-Mart has the capacity to provide proper health insurance to its employees, it needs to be coaxed to do so. Such threat of retribution comes in the form of a bill Hansen and Berceau co-authored, known as the "Fair Share for Health Care" legislation, which they made public Tuesday.

The legislation would mandate companies with more than 10,000 employees to either provide all employees with comprehensive health-care coverage or reimburse the state for the cost it will pay to cover the employees with state health-care programs.

"This bill will ensure Wal-Mart pays for its fair share for health care one way or another," Hansen said.

But Hurst also refuted these statements, saying Wal-Mart has revised its health-care policies by improving the affordability of the plans and offering them to more workers.

"We offer full health-care benefits for both full- and part-time associates," Hurst said. "And [we] have recently improved access to health care by opening up health clinics in our stores that will give associates and the community access to quality care while providing an alternative to expensive emergency-room visits."

Fred Schultz, a former truck driver and eight-year employee of Wal-Mart, spoke out in support of Wal-Mart, saying it is the only thing "saving" him since he was injured at his truck-driving job.

"Luckily, I was fortunate enough to get employment by Wal-Mart," Schultz said, adding "distortions by the press" are misleading the public into thinking Wal-Mart does not offer fair health-care programs. Contrary to other figures, Schultz said about 75 percent of Wal-Mart employees have health insurance.

But Wal-Mart has committed other corporate sins, too, Olsen stated, saying Wal-Mart is guilty of "bullying" local and state officials into giving prospective Wal-Mart stores the go-ahead. Citing his own experience as an alder in Jefferson, Wis., Olsen said he was recalled after he did not support Wal-Mart's request to build a store in his town.

"I can't prove that they threw me out of office," Olsen said. "But I can tell you that there was bullying involved and there was intimidation involved."

In addition, Pocan slammed Wal-Mart, saying the company is attempting to take over the United States and has been forcing businesses in the state to move overseas to meet Wal-Mart's low-cost expectations.

"Wal-Mart has, in sales, 2 percent of the gross domestic product of the United States," Pocan said. "Their stated goal is to get to 25 percent. They want this to be the United States of Wal-Mart."