By Brent Addleman | The Center Square
A Senate committee is taking up discussion on a House bill that would create a medical leave insurance program.
The Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs on Tuesday morning heard testimony from sponsors of House Bill 66 and a representative of the Office of Legislative Counsel.
The bill, if enacted, proposes to create a Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program within the Office of the Treasury that would provide job protections for employees who take leave from employment for domestic and sexual violence, in addition to caring for themselves, a loved one, or a newborn child.
On March 23, the bill passed the House of Representatives in a 99-32 vote. The measure needed 66 votes to pass.
State Rep. Thomas Stevens, D-Washington-Chittenden, one of the primary sponsors of the bill, told the committee during the hour-long meeting that the bill essentially has two parts.
“The easiest part to put together logically is the insurance part, which are the later sections,” Stevens said. “Basically, the proposal is for 12 weeks of leave per every 12 months for serious illnesses. That can include family bonding if you have a child, care for yourself, or care for a family member who is seriously ill and the definition of that is pretty clear.”
Stevens said the bill, if enacted, contains protected job leave, but under current law Vermont businesses would be limited to offering such leave as 80% of the state’s businesses have 10 employees or less and would not be able to offer the program.
The veteran legislator said the bill would create a program that would be “much less expensive to both employees and employers.” He said there are 12 other states that currently have a paid family leave program.
Under the bill, the wage reimbursement rate would be set at 90%, he said, and would benefit the 200,000 state residents who file income taxes for less than $60,000 per year.
Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, D-Windham, told the committee the bill was structured to include a 90% wage reimbursement level, and “we did that because we know how many Vermonters are living paycheck to paycheck.”
“With a 90% wage replacement level, we know that families can actually afford to take this leave,” Kornheiser said. “If we go any further below that, it might cost a little bit less money for families to be investing in these resources, but it means that the families who need it aren’t necessarily going to take it.”
The program would use payroll taxes that would go into a trust fund for the program, Kornheiser said.
Damien Leonard, legislative counsel for the Office of Legislative Counsel, spoke to how the bill would amend current law and a section of the bill, if enacted, would amend existing law “or create session law necessary to implement the program.”
“If you have 10 or more employees who work an average of 30 hours a week or more, that’s very important,” Leonard said. “You have to provide parental leave to your employees. If you have 15 or more employees who work an average of 30 hours a week or more, you have to provide parental and family medical leave to your employees. Importantly, your employees are only eligible to take this if they’ve been working for you for a year at an average of at least 30 hours a week.
“The federal law starts at 50 employees, so very, very few employers in Vermont are covered by that.”
The committee said it would meet with Leonard in the not-so-distant future to discuss the bill more in-depth.
