Latest news with #WelcomeChildandFamilyWellnessLeaveAct
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Paid leave bill passes first Senate committee
Mar. 8—A measure to send thousands of dollars in rebates to working parents who have a new baby has passed another legislative hurdle. Passed on a party-line committee vote Saturday, a paid work leave effort is heading to the Senate Finance Committee, its second-to-last stop before potentially landing on the governor's desk. The Welcome Child and Family Wellness Leave Act, formerly the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act, would send rebates of up to $9,000 over the span of three months to working families with a new baby, paid for through the state's Early Childhood Care and Education Department budget, according to bill sponsors. It also ensures parents don't lose their jobs for taking leave in those 12 weeks and specifies that only one parent is eligible for the rebates, unless parents split the money. House Bill 11 additionally allows employees to take up to six weeks of paid time off for medical, bereavement, foster, military exigency or safety — like sexual assault — purposes. That money would come from a fund paid for by employees and employers with five or more workers, with new wage premiums of 0.15% on employers and 0.2% on employees. The effort, initially introduced in the Roundhouse in 2019, made it past the House for the first time this year. Similar efforts have already passed the Senate multiple times in the past, though the parental leave portion of the bill has significantly changed this year. Despite the debate on HB11 falling on a weekend, members of the public filled the Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee meeting and even flooded Zoom on Saturday morning to express their opposition or support for the measure. Most of the committee discussion on the legislation was public comment, not legislative debate. Republican committee members, similar to past debates, voiced concerns over the fiscal solvency of the proposed paid leave fund and worried about the financial impact on New Mexicans. "It's really sad that we're going to try and bill our employees throughout the state of New Mexico when we know that we have the lowest payroll base in the union," said Sen. Gabriel Ramos, R-Silver City. Committee chair Sen. Carrie Hamblen, D-Las Cruces, asked if bill sponsors considered specialty jobs, bringing up that a radiologist's position would be difficult to find a replacement for. "The person will leave, regardless ... and then the employer will be facing the same replacement issue," said bill sponsor Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos. Republicans tried to table the bill but failed on a 4-6, party-line vote. If HB11 passes the Senate Finance Committee, which has some more moderate Democratic members, it heads to the full floor.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House passes paid leave program with five Democrats voting against it
Feb. 28—SANTA FE — If the Senate doesn't throw any curveballs, it could soon be up to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to decide whether New Mexico should provide baby rebates and paid medical leave. The Welcome Child and Family Wellness Leave Act, formerly the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act, passed the House floor by a vote of 38-31 on Friday. That's where the bill died by two votes last year, and it's already passed the Senate twice in past years, though the bill has significantly changed compared to its previous iterations. All Republicans and five Democrats — Reps. Martha Garcia of Pine Hill, Patricia Lundstrom of Gallup, Wonda Johnson of Church Rock, Marian Matthews of Albuquerque and Joseph Sanchez of Alcalde — voted against the legislation. Republicans and business advocates have fiercely opposed the measure. Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, called the bill "transformational legislation." She and other advocates have been pushing for such legislation at the Roundhouse since 2019. "We're creating a safety net for people who may become ill or have these other life events that are significant where they need the support, for a very small amount of money," she said. Much of the contention over the current bill comes from the mandatory contributions it would impose on workers and businesses. It proposes a 0.2% premium on employee wages — $2 for every $1,000 — and a 0.15% premium on employers' wages — $1.50 for every $1,000. Businesses with less than five employees would be exempt. The contributions would go into a state fund that would pay employee leave for medical, bereavement, foster, military exigency or abuse victim safety purposes. Those premiums are lower than the bill initially proposed, when employees and employers were also fronting the cost for parental leave. However, Democrats changed the bill a week-and-a-half ago to take that portion of the money from the state Early Childhood Education and Care Department instead. The state agency would provide funding for a parent to get up to $9,000 for a new baby, delivering checks over the course of 12 weeks. HB11 would also ensure working parents keep their job while taking up to 12 weeks of time off for bonding. If signed into law, the state will start assessing premiums on employers in January 2027 and on employees in July 2027. Workers could start getting the new baby rebates and using paid leave in 2028. The House hit its three-hour debate limit Friday, with Republicans failing to change the bill. A primary concern from GOP members and business leaders around New Mexico is an inability to replace workers, particularly essential workers, while they take leave. "We are creating a workforce nightmare," House Caucus Chair Rebecca Dow, R-Truth or Consequences, told the Journal before the floor debate. She was preparing her talking points in her office while staff carted around large boxes, which Dow said were previously full of "over 100,000 unduplicated citizens who wrote in and said, 'Do not pass this.'" The towering stacks of paper sat on all the Republicans' desks on the floor during the debate. Dow's first and ultimately only attempt to replace the bill failed on a 40-29 vote. She introduced a substitute bill that would've provided up to six weeks of paid parental leave, with money coming from an early childhood trust fund, and an option for workers to pay 0.5% of their wages to get an extra three weeks paid time off — a measure similar to her own parental leave bill that hasn't made it to its first committee. "When we impose a mandatory tax on employers, the consumers pay the cost," she said. The debate on her substitute bill took so long Dow didn't have time to introduce the other two amendments she had planned. Dow told the Journal before the debate she didn't think any of her changes to the bill stood a chance. She's repeatedly asked when Republicans are going to compromise, she said, but "all we do here is compromise." As for the bill moving onto the Senate, Chandler said "they should really embrace this." However, Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, expressed concerns to the Journal about the House changes to the bill and the feasibility of the state paying for parental leave. Chandler said she hasn't heard from the governor's office yet on the bill, though Rep. Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe, another sponsor on the legislation, said it fundamentally supports "a stronger workforce." "What's really important to see is the support received in the House floor," she said.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Substitute paid family and medical leave bill narrowly passes second House committee
This marks the fifth time lawmakers have proposed a version of paid family and medical leave. Supporters pictured in 2024, when the bill died on the House floor. (Photo by Megan Taros for Source New Mexico) A bill that would codify paid family and medical leave for almost all New Mexico employees passed its second committee Wednesday on a 6-5 vote after 40 tense minutes of public comment and a failed motion to table the bill. A substitute version of House Bill 11 — whose sponsors include President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart and House Speaker Javier Martínez, both Albuquerque Democrats — advanced through the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee on a mostly party-line vote, with just Rep. Marian Matthews (D-Albuquerque) voting against it Sponsors put forward the substitute, now called the Welcome Child and Family Wellness Leave Act, after hearing concerns about the potential financial impact on employers and employees. If passed, HB 11 would provide 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents and six weeks of paid leave for people with serious health conditions or those acting as family caregivers. The bill would also provide $3,000 per month for three months to one of the child's parents immediately after the child's birth or adoption. This is the fifth time in five years that lawmakers have attempted to pass a version of the legislation. The substitute bill would require employers and employees at businesses with more than five employees to pay a percentage of their wages into a fund for the family wellness leave component of the program. Employers and employees would pay a 0.15% and 0.2% premium, respectively. This would amount to about $1 per week for employees, sponsors Rep. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos) and Rep. Linda Serrato (D-Santa Fe) said during Wednesday's hearing. The parental leave component, under the substitute bill, would be funded instead by the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department. This lowers the cost for employers and employees, Chandler said. Rep. Derrick Lente (D-Sandia Pueblo) said the bill holds particular importance given the negative impact President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration and federally funded agencies could have on New Mexico's labor force. 'I bring that up because, as it relates to this matter, statistics show that the lack of this type of benefit — the paid family medical leave type of benefit — impacts people of color, women and marginalized communities the most,' Lente said at the hearing. House Minority Leader Gail Armstrong (R-Magdalena) said she had concerns that the bill would take away decision-making abilities from employers about their own paid-leave protocols. She also said she would push for the bill to go through the appropriations process. Lobbyists and community members filled the committee room and some watched the hearing from their phones outside. Public comment — limited to 10 people from inside the room and four from the hallway per side — began with a flurry of people in opposition rushing to line up. Committee Chair Doreen Gallegos (D-Las Cruces) used her gavel to quiet the crowd. Audience members in opposition of the bill, including some business owners and restaurant workers, cited concerns about financial implications and a lack of employees to fill in for others who are on leave. Carla Sonntag, president and CEO of the New Mexico Business Coalition, said the organization had received 219,000 emails in opposition to the bill over the past three weeks. 'You talk about businesses not having to pay the employee when they're out, but they're gonna have high costs,' Sonntag said during the hearing. 'They've got to replace that labor.' Debate later ensued about whether the proposed premiums for employers and employees are considered taxes. Audience members in favor of the bill shared their personal struggles without having access to paid family and medical leave. Some business owners pushed back against the idea that the bill would negatively impact them. District 1 Santa Fe City Councilor Alma Castro, who is also a small-business restaurant owner, said New Mexico small businesses would benefit from the passage of the bill. 'We have to choose between a paycheck and taking care of our loved ones,' Castro said during the hearing. 'Paid family leave isn't just about workers, but it is about small businesses like mine that can thrive.' After the discussion, Armstrong moved to table the bill, which failed. And before the vote, Gallegos addressed the audience. 'I know that half the room is gonna be happy with the outcome and the other half is not,' Gallegos said. 'I'm gonna ask that we remember decorum and there will be no commotion.' The bill now heads to the House floor, where a version of the bill died last year.
