Lawmakers, Lamont reach deal on paid family leave

Rep. Richard Smith, R-New Fairfield, called the measure an overreach as the program would apply to the smallest businesses, who could not afford to see an employee leave for 12 weeks.

Gov. Ned Lamont and Democratic legislators resolved their intra-party differences Friday over legislation creating a state-mandated paid family and medical leave program, clearing the way for final passage Friday night by the House of Representatives.

Lawmakers and Lamont say they agreed to changes in the size, makeup and operating policies of the quasi-public authority that will oversee the program, giving the governor control over the authority and prompting him to drop a veto threat made last week as the Senate took up the measure.

“We do have an agreement,” Lamont said. “I’m ready to see that go.”

If the bill becomes law, benefits would become available on July 1, 2021. It would provide up to 12 weeks of replacement wages, payable on a sliding scale ranging from 56 percent for higher-paid employees to a maximum of 95 percent for minimum-wage earners. Workers would fund the program with a payroll tax of one-half of one percent.

While legislators had acceded to Lamont’s demand that the new program, which he called a $400 million insurance startup, be overseen by a quasi-public authority instead of a state agency, the governor said the overall structure was so unwieldy that it would discourage private insurers to bid for the business.

Setting aside the 11th-hour threat of a gubernatorial veto, the state Senate voted 21-15 last week to pass a Democratic bill that would achieve a long-sought objective of labor progressives: State-mandated disability insurance providing up to 12 weeks of wage replacement for workers who are ill or need to care for a family member.

House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, declined to call the bill for a vote in the House until the administration and bill’s sponsors agreed on changes that would avert a veto. Those changes will be made in a separate bill that either implements the budget or makes technical revisions or corrections to a host of bills.

With an agreement in hand, the House opened debate at 2:45 p.m. Friday on a measure the Democrats call their priority, giving the working poor the ability stay home with sick family members without financial ruin. But Republicans say the bill is an unwanted mandate on employees, who would be compelled to pay for the disability insurance via a payroll tax of one half of one percent.

“Susan and I ran on paid family and medical eve,” Lamont said at an unrelated event with Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz. “We know how important it is to the workplace of the 21st century to a lot of single parents who desperately need that in order not to choose between a job and a child who is sick.”

The bill passed by the Senate creates an authority with 15 voting members. Under the new version, there will be 13 members, with the governor having seven appointments and the legislature six. The governor also will name the chair.

Previously, most contracts that the quasi-public agency entered into would require a two-thirds vote of the board, to be taken only after a three to four month waiting period. Now, professional staff at the agency will score and award the contracts using criteria agreed upon by twothirds vote of the board, without a waiting period.

The early hours of the debate Friday offered a reprise of the sixhour debate in the Senate.

Republicans say the benefit would be financed by employees, but it still would be a blow to small businesses, giving workers an incentive to take up to 12 weeks of leave.

Rep. Terrie Wood, R-Darien, who described her own struggles caring for a family member, was one of the Republicans who say they understood the push for the program. She said she wished the private sector would step up, especially offering better coverage for low-wage workers.

“I just don’t believe our economy can grow with this heavy hand of government, and this is the heavy hand of government,” she said.

Rep. Richard Smith, R-New Fairfield, called the measure an overreach as the program would apply to the smallest businesses, who could not afford to see an employee leave for 12 weeks. But Rep. Joe Polletta, R-Watertown, undermined that argument, saying he knew of no small business that would keep an employee from taking time for a family emergency.

House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said before the debate that some of the concerns displayed a view that workers were abuse the program. “This distrust of workers is just shocking to me,” he said.

On the assumption that the working poor could not afford any significant loss of income, low-wage workers would get the highest rate of wage-replacement. A worker earning

$600 a week would receive benefits equal to 95 percent of wages, or $570 a week.

According to calculations by Senate Democrats, the replacement wages at other weekly income levels would be lower for higher earners:

80 percent for someone making

$1,040; 70 percent for $1,280; 61 percent for $1,480; and 56 percent for

$1,600.

The payroll tax would impose an annual cost of $156 for minimumwage workers and a maximum of

$664.50 for those with six-figure incomes.

Payroll subjected to the new tax would be limited to the amount of annual earnings subject to Social Security taxes, currently capped at

$132,900. Benefits would be calculated on a sliding scale, according to income.