
Despite changes, paid worker leave bill voted down again
Mar. 15—SANTA FE — A renewed attempt to enact a state-run paid worker leave plan bit the dust Saturday in a Senate committee, as changes made to the bill in an attempt to get it across the Roundhouse finish line instead led to the measure's defeat.
After a barrage of concerns from Democrats and Republicans, from a lack of funding to hurting businesses to the bill not going far enough, the Senate Finance Committee on Saturday voted 8-3 not to pass House Bill 11.
"We'll just keep soldiering on until we get the bill through," bill sponsor Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, told the Journal after the committee vote. "I was hoping and expecting it was going to be this year, and that expectation was based on all the compromises we had made and all the listening we had done."
Indeed, the measure was once a very different bill. First introduced in 2019 as the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act, the many iterations have explored different funding mechanisms, including scenarios where only employees pay into a leave fund to the state fully covering it.
The approach to this year's bill, which sponsors ironed out last month to help it pass through a key House committee, came in two parts: $9,000 baby rebates for new, working parents and up to six weeks paid medical leave, covered by new premiums on workers and most employers.
The legislation as introduced initially this year would've mandated higher premiums from employers and employees to pay for parental and medical leave and allowed for more medical time off.
Bill sponsors made the changes to appease some more moderate Democrats and business leaders, and HB11 successfully passed the House for the first time — something bill sponsor Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, has been urging the House to do. The Senate in the last two years has passed the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act.
Stewart said on Saturday afternoon that HB11 wasn't the right solution, with its reduced medical leave timeframe and baby rebates.
"The changes made this year resulted in a bill that no longer upholds many of the provisions we strongly supported in the original version. ... It just doesn't quite work for what families really need or when they need it," Stewart said in a statement.
She added, "We're not done yet. We will continue working to find a solution that benefits both New Mexico families and the businesses that support our workforce."
Bill sponsor Rep. Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe, said the House sponsors did what they needed with the bill to get it through the chamber it's historically held up in. It passed with seven extra votes.
"As legislators, we all realize perfection is the enemy of the good, and I think we have to do what we can to meet in the middle," Serrato told the Journal.
Chandler said it's perplexing the Senate Finance Committee in the last two years has passed a more expansive Paid Family and Medical Leave Act but wouldn't let the slimmed-down version through this year. Three Democrats who voted for the bill in past years voted against it Saturday: Sens. Pete Campos of Las Vegas, Benny Shendo of Jemez Pueblo and Roberto "Bobby" Gonzales of Ranchos de Taos.
Even the Democrats who voted in favor of the bill started the debate with a list of concerns and questions about it. Sen. Linda Trujillo, D-Santa Fe, said it doesn't go far enough, while Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, reiterated concerns he voiced earlier in the week about where money for the baby rebates would come from.
The "no" vote from Senate Finance Chair George Muñoz, D-Gallup, wasn't a surprise, as he's consistently voted against the bill in the past. This year, he called it one of many unfunded mandates the House of Representatives wants the Senate to pass.
On Saturday, he said the bill is too extreme.
"We can never take a baby step," Muñoz said. "If you have just mothers with 12 weeks (leave) and families taking care of parents for medical assistance, I'd vote for this all day long."
At the end of the day, not all once-supportive advocates backed the bill either.
"We really do think that New Mexicans deserve full, comprehensive paid family and medical leave," said Tracy McDaniel, policy director at the Southwest Women's Law Center. She's been very involved in the bill's legislative progress in the past and acted as a bill expert earlier this year.
However, she said bill sponsors didn't invite advocates to the table when overhauling the bill last month, and she was disappointed to see paid medical leave timeframes dialed down as well as being unsure of the proposed state-funded baby rebates.
"We're going to have to be working with sponsors in the interim around how we create something that really works well for New Mexicans," McDaniel said. "The (paid family and medical leave) coalition continues to think that a contribution-based model works well. ... That's really the way that we create a solvent, sustainable fund."
Republicans have for years vehemently opposed the measure, which they say would make it harder for New Mexico businesses to operate by not only having to find replacement employees for up to 12 weeks but also having to pay new premiums.
The sentiments echo those of influential business leaders in New Mexico, as well as small-town employers.
Rita Chaparro owns Rope's Western and Casual Wear in Clayton, a town of about 2,500 people in northeastern New Mexico. She learned about the paid leave proposal from the Journal.
"It will literally kill our small businesses," Chaparro said. "We cannot add another tax."
Her own store wouldn't be affected, as it only has two employees — the legislation would only tax employers with five or more workers. But Chaparro said she's concerned about the other shops and restaurants in the town that are struggling to stay open.
"We're really having a hard time. So no more adding anything to our plate, please," she said.
Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee on Saturday also had issues with the lack of details in the 36-page bill.
"It just sounds like an absolute employment nightmare," said Sen. Nicole Tobiassen, R-Albuquerque. "And I can see the lawsuits."
While it may be the end of the line this year for a Paid Family and Medical Leave Act, bill sponsors and advocates say they'll be back.
"If you're asking if the House will stop fighting for working families? Never," Serrato said.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New York Post
24 minutes ago
- New York Post
MSNBC host tells Colbert that Trump has started to ‘f— around with the military'
MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace said Tuesday that it felt different to have President Donald Trump 'f— around with the military' in his second term during an interview with late-night host Stephen Colbert. Wallace argued that there were no 'normal Republicans' in Trump's current administration and said 'what's different about Stephen Miller running the ICE raids, and running basically a siege of Los Angeles, is that there is no Mark Esper, Jim Mattis, and that's the big difference, and that is the danger.' Colbert then asked Wallace about the National Guard troops and the Marines that have been sent to Los Angeles to help quell the riots. 'We have seen Trump stretch his presidential powers over the last five months. Is this different?' 'It feels different, it feels different to, can we swear here?' she asked as Colbert said she could. 'To f— around with the military, it feels really different, and he wanted to the first time, but people like Mark Milley, people stopped him. It feels really different to use the military as pawns out loud and as a public tactic. That feels different to me.' A battalion of 700 U.S. Marines are mobilizing in Los Angeles to respond to anti-immigration enforcement riots, just days after Trump deployed the National Guard to the area as well. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson responded to criticism of Trump's actions on Tuesday, telling Fox News Digital that 'violent rioters in Los Angeles, enabled by Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, have attacked American law enforcement, set cars on fire, and fueled lawless chaos.' On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace said President Donald Trump 'f— around with the military' had a different feeling compared to what he has done throughout his time in office. Scott Kowalchyk/CBS 'President Trump rightfully stepped in to protect federal law enforcement officers. When Democrat leaders refuse to protect American citizens, President Trump will always step in,' she added. Colbert also asked Wallace about the state of the Democratic Party and asked the MSNBC host if they were 'in danger of an autocrat.' 'I don't know, and I think that, in politics, you are one leader away from a comeback, you're one moody character away from this unlikely hero. And so I think the Democratic Party hasn't rotted. I mean the Democratic Party has not corrupted itself, it hasn't turned on itself in the way that the Republican Party has. And I think the Democratic Party is one leader away from being something fresh and appealing to a majority of others again. I think the Republican Party is still heading down, down, down following Trump and his authoritarian ways,' she said. Wallace claims there are no 'normal Republicans' in Trump's current administration and that the difference is that with Stephen Miller running the ICE raids, it is basically running a siege in Los Angeles, California. AP Wallace previously made headlines earlier this year while covering Trump's address to Congress, during which the president made a 13-year-old cancer survivor, DJ Daniel, an honorary Secret Service agent. 'But I think this was a lesson in finding one thing that you let yourself feel,' Wallace said during her coverage of the address. 'And I let myself feel joy about DJ, and I hope he's alive for another, you know, 95 years, and I hope he lives the life he wants to live. He wants to be a cop. He knows what he wants to do, and maybe when you have childhood cancer, that crystallizes for you.' 'I hope he has a long life as a law enforcement officer,' she continued. 'But I hope he never has to defend the United States Capitol against Donald Trump's supporters, and if he does, I hope he isn't one of the six who loses his life to suicide, and I hope he isn't one who has to testify against the people who carried out acts of seditious conspiracy and then lived to see Donald Trump pardon those people.' The MSNBC host was criticized by Trump and the White House at the time.


The Hill
26 minutes ago
- The Hill
Marines deployed near LA have not completed training on use of force, nonlethal weapons
The 700 Marines mobilized to the Los Angeles area on Monday have not yet completed pre-mission training as of Wednesday morning, with no clear picture yet as to whether they will be deployed on the ground, a U.S. Northern Command official confirmed to The Hill. The Marines 'are still conducting pre-mission training and they have not been employed by Task Force 51, the DoD command element in Los Angeles,' a Northcom spokesperson said in a statement. 'I do not have an estimate of when they will be employed.' The training includes standing rules for the use of force and the use of nonlethal weapons. The spokesperson added that no other active-duty Marines have been deployed to other locations and cities at this time. Like the 4,000 California National Guard troops deployed to Los Angeles to quell largely peaceful protests against the Trump administration's immigration raids, 'these Marines will protect federal functions, personnel, and property, which includes accompanying federal personnel on missions,' they added. The new statement stands in contrast to a Northcom statement from yesterday, which said the Marines had already been trained in de-escalation, crowd control and standing rules for the use of force. The same day, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith said the Marines had received 'in excess of two hours' of the training, and that they would have shields and batons as their equipment. U.S. Army Major General Scott Sherman also told reporters that the Marines are still undergoing 'civil disturbance training and the standing rules of force training.' He also revealed that Guard troops will be able to temporarily detain individuals until law enforcement agents step in to arrest them. 'They are strictly there to detain, to wait for law enforcement to come and handle those demonstrators,' Sherman said. Criticism is growing among Democrats as to the legality of President Trump's decision to deploy U.S. service members to Los Angeles, calling the decision a wildly out-of-proportion response to the situation. 'You are deploying the American military to police the American people; you are sending the National Guard into California without the governor's request, sending the Marines not after foreign threats, but after American protesters,' Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during an Appropriations subcommittee hearing Wednesday. 'Threatening to use our own troops on our own citizens at such scale is unprecedented, it is unconstitutional, and it is downright un-American,' she continued. Trump, meanwhile, has doubled down on his decision to deploy troops, insisting it is constitutionally legal while calling out California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) for not ensuring federal agents were protected. 'The INCOMPETENT Governor of California was unable to provide protection in a timely manner when our Ice Officers, GREAT Patriots they are, were attacked by an out of control mob of agitators, troublemakers, and/or insurrectionists,' Trump wrote on Truth Social early Wednesday. Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth has repeatedly defended the decision to deploy Marines to Los Angeles, including in testimony to Congress.


Hamilton Spectator
27 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Permitless concealed carry in North Carolina faces uphill battle after some GOP pushback
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A bill to let adults carry concealed handguns without a permit cleared the North Carolina legislature on Wednesday, however the path to joining the majority of U.S. states with similar laws remains uncertain. The GOP-backed legislation faces a likely veto from Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, as well as pushback from a handful of Republicans who voted against the legislation in the state House. House Speaker Destin Hall acknowledged those concerns after Wednesday's vote. 'I would imagine that — math being math — that it's probably a low percentage relative to other bills,' Hall told reporters. If the bill becomes law, North Carolina would become the 30th state in the country to legalize permitless carrying of a concealed handgun, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. North Carolina would also be one of the last states in the Southeast to implement that legislation. The legislation allows for eligible people with valid identification over the age of 18 to carry a concealed handgun. More than half of states with permitless concealed carry set their age limit at 21 and older, while the rest have the legal carrying age at 18, according to the NCSL. Currently, a person must be 21 and older to obtain a concealed handgun permit in North Carolina. To qualify, an applicant must pass a firearms safety training course and not 'suffer from a physical or mental infirmity that prevents the safe handling of a handgun,' according to state law. Approving permitless concealed carry has been a goal of gun-rights activists in North Carolina for years, with House Republicans historically supportive of the idea. Some see it as the next step after Republican lawmakers successfully eliminated the permit system that required sheriffs to conduct character evaluations and criminal history checks for pistol applicants in 2023. Conservative advocates for the bill say it would strengthen Second Amendment rights for North Carolinians. Republican lawmakers also disputed that the bill would make the state more dangerous, as 'law-abiding citizens' would be the only people that would benefit from the permit elimination, not criminals, Republican Rep. Brian Echevarria said. 'Rights to keep and bear arms are constitutionally inseparable,' Echevarria said. 'If a person cannot own a firearm, they cannot bear a firearm.' The bill's passage tees up one of the first opportunities for a likely veto from Stein if he stays aligned with his fellow Democrats in the legislature. Stein has a more powerful veto stamp than his predecessor Roy Cooper , after Republicans lost their House supermajority last year that allowed them to override vetoes and enact their legislative agenda with relative ease. Now, House Republicans would need to count on a Democrat to join in their override efforts. Reaching that goal seems especially daunting, considering all of the present House Democrats — and two Republicans — voted against the bill. The governor's office didn't respond to a request for comment on the legislation, but House Deputy Democratic Leader Cynthia Ball said in a committee Tuesday that Stein was opposed to it. Several Democratic legislators said it would make communities unsafe by loosening who can carry a concealed handgun without training. Democrats also raised issue with the age limit set in the bill, saying it would put guns in the hands of young people who aren't yet mature enough to have one. 'Do you not remember when you were 18? We are prone and so susceptible to peer pressure, we are hotheaded, we are emotional,' Democratic Rep. Tracy Clark said on the House floor after retelling her personal experience of losing two friends in college to gun violence. Those seeking a permit for their concealed handgun — such as for the purpose of traveling with a firearm to a state that requires a permit — would still be able to do so. The bill also heightens the felony punishment for those who assault law enforcement officers or first responders with a firearm. A separate bill that makes gun safety courses available at North Carolina community colleges for people 18 and up passed in a near-unanimous House vote directly after the concealed carry permit repeal legislation was approved. ___ Associated Press writer Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh contributed to this report. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .