House passes paid leave program with five Democrats voting against it

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. She later told the Journal she thinks it's appropriate to use money from the early childhood fund to help provide baby bonding time.

"(I)t sounds creative and responsive to the concern from business. ... We will have to hear more about it," Stewart said.

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.

Editor's note 3/1/25 10:40 a.m.: This article has been updated to include additional comments from Sen. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, on the bill changes.