Gov. Ned Lamont on Wednesday pledged to veto a paid family and medical leave bill that the state Senate was expected to vote on later in the day.
While Lamont said he still supports a statewide paid family and medical leave program, and agrees with much of the structure the bill lays out for the proposed $400 million program, the Democratic governor said he’s unhappy with the oversight aspect of the bill, which would give control of the program to the state Department of Labor (DOL).
Lamont thinks the proposed procedural structure could cause delays and would too easily allow for an oversight committee to veto items.
“We’ve been negotiating in good faith with the legislature about paid family for some time, and I don’t think we are there,” Lamont said during a briefing in his office Wednesday afternoon. “I was really surprised to see they were running the bill in the state senate.”
Lamont cited “top-heavy bureaucracy” as posing a threat to rolling out the paid family medical leave program, which would be funded by a half-percent payroll tax on employees.
The governor has explored private management of a paid family and medical leave program, and suggested Wednesday that private insurer carriers may be best suited to administer the program.
Lamont suggested a special session may be needed to iron out the details of a statewide paid-leave program.
“We are going to straighten it out,” Lamont said. “It is an important bill that makes a difference for the state and parents, single parents, and small business. We have to make sure we do this right.”
Under the two paid-leave proposals, S.B. 1 and S.B. 881, the paid leave program would require that private employers provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave annually, paying as much as $1,000 a week, for workers dealing with an illness or to care for a sick family member.
Backers of a paid-leave program argue it would help Connecticut keep pace with states that have adopted similar benefits, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York.
Meantime, opponents claim the pool of money raised by the payroll tax would not be sustainable and that the program would be burdensome to small business owners dealing with length absences.
Paid-leave advocates on Wednesday said they hope Lamont makes good on his campaign promise to pass a statewide program.
“Connecticut residents, especially low-wage earners who are currently least likely to have access to paid leave, have waited long enough for real, comprehensive paid family and medical leave,” said Madeline Granato, policy manager of the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF) and the campaign director of the CT Campaign for Paid Family Leave.
“Paid family and medical leave is past due in our state and we must find a path forward to establish a program,” which Granato said, citing a recent study, is supported by 88 percent of voters.
A GOP paid-leave proposal
Prior to Lamont’s afternoon briefing, Republican leadership unveiled a paid family and medical leave program proposal of their own, which would create private market options for employers who choose to offer paid time off for sick leave or to care of family members.
The Republican proposal, officials say, would include similar definitions of who is considered a family member.
“This alternative plan would be optional and comes with no cost to the state,” House Republican Leader Themis Klarides said in a statement Wednesday. “It would be supported in part by the private insurance industry located here in Connecticut, not the state.”
Republican leaders, who said they will offer their proposal in as an amendment in the Senate Wednesday, criticized the paid-leave program proposed by Democrats, which they say would require at least 135 additional state workers and cost more than $20 million in start-up costs.
This story has been updated to include comment from Madeline Granato.
