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House committee weighs 'penalty of perjury' clause in labor bill aligning victim protections
Summary
The House Committee on General & Housing heard testimony March 18 on S.230, which would align state employment protections and cross‑reference federal FMLA rules for teachers; attorneys and survivor advocates warned a Senate‑added 'penalty of perjury' requirement for self‑attestations could chill survivors, and the committee asked counsel to draft amendments.
The House Committee on General & Housing spent its March 18 meeting examining S.230 — an omnibus labor bill that would (1) cross‑reference federal Family and Medical Leave Act rules for teachers, (2) carry Parental and Family Leave Act protections into the Fair Employment Practices Act (FEPA) for crime victims, and (3) remove obsolete mandatory‑retirement language.
Sen. Tom Chittenden, sponsor of S.230, told the committee the measure largely synchronizes statutory language and is not intended to expand benefits. "All this does is providing a cross reference to the federal law," Chittenden said, describing the teacher provision as clarifying how hours worked outside the classroom count toward eligibility.
The mos…
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