Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Paid Family And Medical Leave topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate committee defers decision on forming paid family and medical leave working group
Summary
The Senate Committee on Labor and Technology heard hours of testimony in strong support of a resolution to convene a legislative working group on paid family and medical leave; the committee deferred final action to March 28 to consider changes to membership and federal compliance expertise.
The Senate Committee on Labor and Technology heard broad support March 24 for a resolution (SCR 145 / SR 117) requesting a legislative working group to develop recommendations for establishing a state paid family and medical leave program, but deferred decision-making to March 28.
The measure drew testimony from labor, health and advocacy groups, and small-business owners who said a working group would help the Legislature prepare a program. “We stand on our testimony in support,” Jade Butay, director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, told the committee. Nicole Wu of the Hawai‘i Children’s Action Network said a working group “is a really good step to get us there.”
The issue attracted broad stakeholder interest. AARP Hawai‘i, Catholic Charities Hawai‘i, the Hawai‘i State AFL-CIO, Maui Chamber of Commerce and other nonprofits and unions submitted written or oral support. Joel Edwards, a Kauai small-business owner, said paid family leave would “really make a significant impact” for employees who face catastrophic family events.
Committee members pressed staff on administrative capacity and costs. Joanne Hiddon Hart, an administrator in the department, said staff needs were estimated by comparing a family-leave program to unemployment insurance operations: “We came up with the staff count based on looking at unemployment insurance…we came up with a 20 [positions]” (staff later gave a broader estimate of about 122 positions and roughly $15 million, including fringe, to stand up and operate a full program). Butay told the panel there are no federal funds now available to run a paid family leave program and that administration would rely on state funds.
Senators also raised composition of the proposed working group and whether it includes representatives with federal ERISA expertise to avoid conflicts between a state program and federal law. “If we want this to be successful…we’ve gotta be able to get the right people at the table,” one senator said, pressing for inclusion of entities with federal-law expertise. Several testifiers recommended adding representatives from the judiciary, Department of Education, and professional organizations such as the American Association of University Women.
The committee’s chair said there were “a number of suggestions” to consider and announced the measure would be deferred to 3 p.m. March 28 in Conference Room 224 for further consideration and a public notice to be posted on the Legislature’s website.
Why it matters: establishing paid family and medical leave would create a new statewide benefit with operational, budgetary and legal implications. The working group is intended to gather stakeholders, estimate costs, and identify statutory or regulatory changes needed to implement a program.
Votes at the meeting: no final vote on SCR 145 / SR 117; decision-making was deferred to March 28.
