This morning, the Senate Finance Committee voted 6-5 to send Senate Bill 3, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart (D-Bernalillo), to the Senate floor for consideration.
SB 3 is better known as the Paid Family Medical Leave Act. Co-sponsors are Reps. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos, Sandoval and Santa Fe ), Linda Serrato (D-Santa Fe) and Patricia Roybal Caballero (D-Bernalillo).
Those voting in favor of advancing the bill were: Sens. Pete Campos (D-Colfax, Guadalupe, Harding, Mora, Quay, San Miguel and Taos); Bobby Gonzales (D-Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, Santa Fe and Taos); Siah Correa Hemphill (D-Catron, Grant and Socorro); Michael Padilla (D-Bernalillo); Jeff Steinborn (D-Doña Ana); and Nancy Rodriguez (D-Santa Fe).
Those voting in opposition were: Sens. William Burt (R-Chaves, Lincoln and Otero); Crystal Diamond Brantley (R-Dona Ana, Hidalgo, Luna and Sierra); William Sharer (R-San Juan); Pat Woods (R-Curry, Quay and Union); and Chairman George Munoz (D-Cibola, McKinley and San Juan).
SB 3 is a mirror image of HB 6, which may be heard next week in the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee. The Chamber is strongly opposed to both measures, which seek to provide 12 weeks of paid leave to nearly all government and private-sector employees by imposing nearly a quarter billion dollars of new taxes on both employers and employees.
In today’s hearing, Chamber President and CEO Terri Cole identified the Chamber’s objections to the legislation in her in-person testimony:
Mr. Chair and members of the committee. I’m Terri Cole, President and CEO of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce.
Despite the many cordial conversations Senator Stewart and I have had on this bill, and with all due respect, I’m here today in opposition to SB3.
Here are our business concerns:
- It imposes a new tax on employers and employees that could escalate and create continuing fiscal challenges.
- The bill needs more guardrails to make abuse more unlikely.
- And, it harms small businesses by allowing so much leave, every year, for such a broad range of purposes and circumstances. Absorbing vacancies, finding temp employees – it’s small employers who will suffer. New Mexico’s economy becomes more corporate and less unique.
A different approach – focusing on maternity leave to support mothers and keep them in the workforce, is better on all three fronts: lower cost, impossible to abuse, and easy for businesses to plan for. Thank you.
Rather than beginning with a more modest, manageable and financially less risky approach, such as maternity leave, and, if conditions warrant, gradually expanding the program, proponents appear to be firmly resolved to jump head first into an approach that is more generous in benefits and more complex to administer than any program in the country. And, most of the other states with PFMLA programs are the wealthier states that can perhaps better afford missteps. PFMLA is an idea that needs a lot more consideration than is possible in a 30-day session. It’s time to hit the pause button.
We’ll have more on this for you in Monday’s Legislative Roundup, and we’ll keep you informed as these proposals move through the Roundhouse.
