NM Senate panel narrowly passes paid family leave bill
The New Mexico Senate Finance Committee narrowly passed S.B. 11 by Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-Bernalillo), which would create “ a 12-week Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) benefit for nearly all workers in the state,” according to the bill’s fiscal impact report.
“The bill would require employee contributions of 0.5 percent and employer contributions of 0.4 percent of wages into the newly established PFML fund.” However, businesses with five employees or fewer would be exempt.
Sen. George Muñoz (D-Gallup) joined the four Republicans on the panel to reject the bill, although it squeaked by on a 6-5 vote.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, Sen. William Sharer (R-Farmington) said, “We want to be compassionate. We just don’t want to have our hands tied about how compassionate we have to be.”
Terri Cole, the president and CEO of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, said during testimony, “If you pass this bill, New Mexico will become more corporate and less unique.”
The Journal noted, “Specifically, the bill analysis projected the fund could face a $516 million deficit by the 2028 budget year — a figure that could cause the state Workforce Solutions Department to order an increase in the premium amount that businesses and employees would have to pay into the fund.”
Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has not yet endorsed the bill, although it is likely she would if it came to her desk.
Leftists have been ramming extreme bills through this session, including proposals to force public bodies to facilitate abortions and transgender surgeries (H.B. 7), new gun bans (H.B. 9), bills to weaken New Mexico elections (H.B. 4), and eco-left bills (H.B. 95), which have already passed the House.
S.B. 11 now heads to the Senate floor for a full vote, and if it is successful, it will need to pass the House in the fewer than four weeks left in the 2023 Legislative Session.
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