Amended Paid Family and Medical Leave Act passes Senate

Friday evening marked the lengthiest bill debate so far in the legislative session with the passage of the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act mostly along party lines in the Senate. The measure comes with changes the bill sponsors say stem from discussions with business leaders in the state.

The amendments didn’t sway Republicans’ opposition to the bill. They took up most of the debate time on the measure, which spanned about four and a half hours.

Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, joined the Republicans to speak against the bill. He was the only Democrat to vote against its passage.

The clock was an hour off from midnight when the Senate passed the legislation with a 25-15 vote.

This legislation has failed repeatedly in past sessions. There’s less than a week left in the Legislature for the bill to get through the Roundhouse.

How the bill works

The Paid Family and Medical Leave Act, as amended in the Senate on Friday, would allow employees to take up to nine to 12 weeks of paid time off for their or a family member’s medical or safety purposes, including for serious medical conditions, bonding with a child, bereavement of a child and sexual abuse. An official such as a health care provider would have to approve the leave.

Workers and employers would pay into a state fund so employees could take the leave at 100% of minimum wage plus 67% of wages above that. Employees and employers wouldn’t start paying into the fund until 2026, and workers could apply for the paid leave starting in 2027.

Workplaces with fewer than five employees wouldn’t have to participate, self-employed workers and contractors could opt out, and workplaces that offer similar or better benefits could ask for a waiver.

Similar to previous committee arguments, bill sponsor Sen. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, said this bill would result in less turnover cost, more women in the workforce and better health for employees.

The legislation has also changed since past sessions, like with premium caps and an actuarial study, which bill sponsors say gives it a better chance of passing this year.

Friday’s changes to the bill

Local and state Chambers of Commerce have been vocal in their opposition to this legislation. Some, including the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce, maintain the stance despite Friday’s changes.

Stewart said Reps. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, and Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe — the sponsors of the mirror House bill — talked with business leaders over the past three weeks to make changes to the legislation.

A slew of amendments came out of those discussions, Stewart said, and the Senate approved the passage of all of them.

“We want businesses to feel good about this. We want it easy for them,” Stewart said.

The Senate voted along party lines to pass an amendment Stewart put forth that decreases the leave for medical or safety purposes from 12 weeks to nine weeks. That leave would go back to 12 weeks if the fund is considered solvent after two years.

Leave for family purposes would stay at 12 weeks the entire time.

Stewart’s amendment also affects the implementation advisory committee the bill would create. The original bill specified 16 representatives with various expertise would serve on the committee, and her amendment took that down to a committee made up of four employees and four employers.

“We are going to take time in the next two years to make this as easy on businesses as we can,” Stewart said.

The Senate unanimously approved another amendment from Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, with a change that would require an employee to work at a company for 180 days rather than 90 days, as originally drafted, to receive the leave benefit.

“That, to me, is very important as an employer, just to know that I’m holding the job open for somebody while they’re on leave … they’ve worked for me for a while. They’ve invested in me, and I’ve invested in them,” Cervantes said.

The unanimously approved amendment would also require a worker to give 20 days notice on leave to their employer when practical.

Stewart said she appreciates the bill sponsors and business community that made the bill better.

“Change is hard, but this is a good change,” she said

Republicans and one Democrat oppose

Republicans — and Muñoz — have argued throughout the session that the bill would cause businesses to suffer and maintained that stance on the floor on Friday.

Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview, said it would be difficult to replace employees in skilled trades, like plumbers or electricians. He said business workers he represents can move seven or eight miles and do business in another state.

“We are just taking livelihoods away from our people,” he said.

Additionally, Woods said the bill doesn’t have protections for the employer against lawsuits when they fire an employee. He asked if the advisory committee could make guarantees against that, and Stewart said the committee could recommend to the secretary of the Department of Workforce Solutions along those lines.

Sen. William Sharer, R-Farmington, also had concerns about lawsuits. He said a small business could unknowingly violate the rules in the bill, and those businesses don’t have human resources teams to navigate the rules.

“This isn’t beating up the big box store,” he said. “This is beating up Main Street.”

Another worry for Republicans is that workers would take advantage of the leave program. Stewart said little to no fraud has been reported in other states with similar programs. Sharer said that doesn’t mean fraud isn’t happening.

Sens. Crystal Diamond Brantley, R-Elephant Butte, and Cliff Pirtle, R-Roswell, said the bill would create unspoken workplace discrimination, like for women of child-bearing age.

“I promise you that the unintended consequence of a bill that means to do well by women will set them back,” Diamond Brantley said.

Muñoz reiterated the argument. He said employers will look at how old people are and their health history before hiring them, because that’s the way business works.

“Good people will use this in the correct way,” Muñoz said. “Bad people will use it in the wrong way.”

Sharer said the bill hasn’t gone to a committee full of attorneys so it could be worked out. In response to a question from Sharer on consequences of people misusing this leave, Stewart listed numerous checks against fraud that are included in the bill.

Minority Floor Leader Sen. Greg Baca, R-Belen, acknowledged how many times a bill like this has failed. He said the Legislature can keep trying to do this until the bill eventually gets through.

“New Mexico doesn’t want this,” he said.

Sen. Ron Griggs, R-Alamogordo, said lawmakers should spend more time on studies ensuring the measure would work before allowing it to become law. Muñoz had similar sentiments and said he’s not really sure how to fix the measure, informally proposing that it could be made a voluntary measure.

“We should figure out a way to make this a better bill,” Muñoz said.

The first House committee to hear the more narrow version of the paid family and medical leave bill from Rep. Marian Matthews, D-Albuquerque, tabled it earlier in the session. Business leaders, including the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce, supported that bill instead.