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Senators press department on proposal to expand paid family leave for state employees
Summary
Lawmakers questioned whether increasing paid bonding leave from 85% toward full salary for state employees would discourage returns to work; the commissioner said the policy applies to state employees and the $10 million initial appropriation is standard for a first-year opt-in program.
Senators asked the Department of Labor whether the governor's proposal to increase paid bonding leave for state employees — effectively making up the difference between existing benefits (85% of salary) and full pay — could create an incentive for employees to extend leave rather than return to work.
"Because that's just for state employees," Commissioner Robert Sciro Angelo said, characterizing the proposal as an employer-side supplement that makes up the gap between 85% and full salary for bonding leave. He stressed the program applies to state employees in their role as employer, not as a statewide policy change that directly alters private-sector paid leave rules.
A senator raised concern that if there is no difference in income between being on leave and working, employees might take the maximum allowed leave and that the state already struggles to recruit some positions. Sciro Angelo replied that the benefit universe for bonding leave is finite and argued it can help attract employees to state jobs.
Separately, committee members asked whether the budget language authorizing a $10,000,000 appropriation for family-leave supplemental payments includes authorization for additional appropriations. Sciro Angelo said such language is a standard precaution for first-year opt-in programs so the department will not run out of funds midyear; projections were made with OMB and are intended to be statistically sound.
The commissioner said the department will provide follow-up material on projections and related budget language to clarify how the appropriation was calculated and whether further appropriations might be triggered depending on participation.
