Paid Leave Act heads to full Senate

SANTA FE — Daniel Melgar's mother died in 2020. So too did his father-in-law. In 2021, his father died, and his mother-in-law died.

He needed time off for bereavement. Yet the bills kept coming in.

So his employer at Cafe Castro paid for him to take time off every time.

Cafe owner Alma Castro took it out of her profit, something she said is already running on a slim margin.

With what she paid to cover Melgar's time off, she said she could've paid for an entire year of a paid leave program that lawmakers are trying once again to get through the Legislature.

The Paid Family and Medical Leave Act is moving through both sides of the Roundhouse as Senate Bill 3 and House Bill 6. It's a measure that's failed time and time again in past sessions.

The Senate bill narrowly passed the Senate Rules Committee on Saturday morning by a vote of 6-5. Sen. George Muñoz was the only Democrat to vote against the bill.

The committee also approved some minor amendments to the bill, clarifying details and technical language.

The legislation got through a wider vote of 6-2 in its first committee, Senate Tax, Business and Transportation.

The next stop is the full Senate floor, where the sponsors will need to win over a much larger crowd of lawmakers to keep the momentum going and get the legislation over to the House side.

The mirror House bill could be heard in its second committee this week, the same committee that failed to hear the legislation last year. That led to the 2023 death of the bill.

The details, the debate

The Paid Family and Medical Leave Act would allow employees to take up to 12 weeks of time off for self or family medical needs.

It would set up a state fund, which employees and employers would contribute to, that pays employees when they're on leave. Bill sponsor Sen. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, said employees would pay $5 for every $1,000 in wages to the fund, and employers would pay $4 for every $1,000 in wages.

She said 66% of businesses wouldn't have to pay into the fund at all. Businesses with fewer than five employees would be exempt from paying, and employees would still get the paid leave benefit.

When taking the paid time off, employees would receive 100% state minimum wage plus 67% of wages above that.

Business owners and leaders once again voiced different stances on the bill in committee, some speaking in opposition with financial concerns and others in support with workers' needs in mind.

City and state chambers of commerce oppose the bill.

Castro said she'd be glad that this bill lifts the burden of her having to cover time off alone as the employer.

"We live in a world where some employees have personal days, have mental health days built into their benefits package. And service industry workers have to go to work sick," she said. "It just doesn't seem fair."

Melgar is the general manager at Cafe Castro. He's worked for the family business for 18 years, sticking around for how well he's treated.

He told the Journal it was helpful to be able to take paid time off when his parents and parents-in-law died. Even so, it's never enough time, he said.

When asked what he would've done without the paid time off, he simply shook his head.

"It just would have been hard," Melgar said.

In committee, Muñoz, D-Gallup, asked questions about how the taxes will work and said employees will try to find some other way to make up the lost dollars if they have to pay more for this program. He said this could force people to choose between paying for insurance or not.

He also said people will find ways to take advantage of the system, something Republicans and business owners have voiced concerns about.

"There's a lot I still would like to see this bill do," Muñoz said.