Paid family leave proposal: Vital safety net or massive tax increase?

Audio By Carbonatix

(The Center Square) - To convince colleagues that Pennsylvania workers need access to paid family and medical leave, state Rep. Jennifer O'Mara used facts from her own life: her father died young, she has two kids, and her veteran husband was wounded in combat.

Those circumstances can disrupt family income, said O'Mara. A Democrat from Delaware County who as a rank-and-file lawmaker makes more than $113,000 a year, she acknowledged during floor debate on March 25 that she was "really fortunate in the position that I have" but it was "our responsibility to deliver" the bill for those less fortunate.

Moments later, her bill setting up a new paid leave program passed - but not before a strong statement about the source of the money.

A "$4.5 billion tax increase on Pennsylvania's small businesses," is how Republican Rep. Aaron Bernstine of Lawrence County described the O'Mara bill. Those businesses, he said, are "struggling to make ends meet. People that are working 60, 70, 80 hours a week."

On Thursday, interviewed separately about a week after that debate, the two were just as far apart.

O'Mara told of an "overwhelming response" to the bill passage, hearing from families of children sick with cancer and people who plan to move to a state that has paid family leave. Bernstine said owners of "pizza shops" and similarly modest businesses should not be hit with the massive bill for a new program, because they are the ones that can least afford it.

The dilemma is now in the hands of the state Senate. It is on a 27-day break between voting session days.

The O'Mara bill is awaiting action in the Senate Labor & Industry Committee, chaired by Republican Sen. Devlin Robinson. The Allegheny County senator has also crafted his own bill on paid family leave that is awaiting action in his committee. It was first introduced nine months ago and a bipartisan group constituting 60% of the Senate have signed on as co-sponsors.

A federal law, the Family and Medical Leave Act, was enacted in 1993.

Better known as FMLA, it guarantees job protection to workers who must take leave for family or medical reasons. But it includes no compensation, and only covers private-sector employers with 50 or more workers.

The O'Mara bill includes formulas that would spell out the amount of benefits to be paid by employers to workers who make claims in eligible circumstances. Those include caring for a new child or a seriously ill family member; experiencing a serious health condition; and giving care made necessary by acts of violence.

It would also set up a program within the state Department of Community and Economic Development to help eligible employers with the cost of the program.

In the House, which is controlled by Democrats, the vote on the O'Mara bill was 107-92. All Democrats voted in favor except for Rep. Frank Burns of Cambria County, and they were joined by Republican Rep. Joe Emrick of Northampton County; Reps. Valerie Gaydos and Natalie Mihalek of Allegheny County; and Reps. Joe Hogan, Kathleen Tomlinson and Shelby Labs of Bucks County.

The Senate is controlled by Republicans.

During the March 25 debate in the House, Tomlinson said she was voting "yes" only to indicate support for the concept. The bill itself, she said, underwent a major change before the final vote that was carried out without consulting the Senate.

She predicted the bill would "go nowhere" in the Senate and said, "We could have worked better with the other chamber and had some discussions."

Robinson said he was reviewing the altered House bill.

"I remain committed to achieving the core goal of the bill – to help families during their most difficult moments," Robinson said. "The last thing anyone should have to do is worry about how to put food on the table during a life-altering health emergency, following the birth of a child, or while caring for a sick loved one."