Narrower paid family and medical leave bill tabled

It may be the end of the road for one of the paid family and medical leave bills trying to make it through the 2024 Legislature. A House committee tabled it on late last week.

A tabled bill isn’t dead until the end of the session.

House Bill 11 is an effort to provide six weeks of paid time off for an employee or their family’s medical emergencies.

It resembles House Bill 6, but is more narrow in why and how long employees can take medical leave and only requires employees to pay to the state fund that funds thepaid leave . Prominent business leaders in New Mexico who didn’t like House Bill 6 supported House Bill 11.

The House Health and Human Services Committee voted 7-1 to table House Bill 11 on Friday.

Six of the seven democratic representatives on the committee — Kathleen Cates, Eleanor Chávez, Joanne Ferrary, Pamelya Herndon, Reena Szczepanski and Elizabeth Thomson — voted to table it. So did Harlan Vincent, R-Ruidoso Downs.

Only Rep. Tara Jaramillo, D-Truth or Consequences, voted against the table motion.

Rep. Jenifer Jones, R-Deming, left before the vote. Rep. Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park, also wasn’t there for the vote.

Herndon said collaborative work continues from here.

“With this bill being tabled today, this still gives an opportunity for these two groups — House Bill 6 and House Bill 11 — to continue to work together, and hopefully we’ll come to some resolution where we will have a viable bill that will work for every single New Mexican,” she said.

Republicans voiced some of the same concerns with House Bill 11 as they did on Wednesday with the similar House Bill 6, such as how it would affect employers.

Democrats said six weeks isn’t enough time off to bond or take care of a new child. Szczepanski and Cates also said there are technical issues with the bill and how it works.

“And I just don’t think it reflects the values of what I would like to see set up,” Szczepanski said.

Rob Black, president and CEO of the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce, told the Journal it’s disappointing the committee didn’t move forward with a responsible and financially viable plan.

“The different approach of HB 11 would solve the problems that have plagued the HB 6 version for years,” he said.

House Bill 6 passed the same House committee on Wednesday. It goes to the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee next.

The bill’s mirror version in the Senate was held up last week when Republicans didn’t show up to committee and there wasn’t a quorum on Thursday to vote on it. Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said the committee would still vote on the bill in another meeting even if the Republicans don’t show up.

Minority Whip Sen. Craig Brandt, R-Rio Rancho, said on the Senate floor Friday afternoon Republicans shouldn’t have to be there for a quorum. The Democrats have twice as many members, he said, and it’s their responsibility to make a quorum.

Wirth, the majority floor leader, said lawmakers won’t stop meeting on the bill.

“There shouldn’t be an expectation that we’re just going to delay something for five days, especially in a 30-day session,” Wirth said.

The Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee ended up passing the bill with a 6-2 vote on Saturday. It goes to the Senate Finance Committee next.