Supporters of bringing paid family and medical leave to New Mexico say they are not giving up the fight and will bring a new bill up during next year’s 30 day session.
A bill that passed the Senate this year died in the House at the end of session.
State Representative Christine Chandler, who has been pushing for such legislation for years, addressed the Economic and Rural Development & Policy Committee on Thursday in Los Alamos on changes made to the legislation in hopes of getting it to the Governor’s desk.
Chandler says they have laid the foundation for what should be a strong, viable program. She says other states that have enacted paid family leave have seen great benefits like more women in the workplace and employee retention.
“It’s a tight workforce, we can’t find employees, we need to bring them back, so we need to offer programs like this. That’s what other states are seeing when they have such programs,” she said. “There’s lower turnover. This ties back to the need to sustain our workforce in the workplace. People who take Family and Medical Leave are more likely to be employed by the same employer two years later. All of you who are business people and those of you who are not, know that there are costs associated in replacing someone and this helps mitigate having to sustain those costs.”
Similar programs have been enacted in 13 states and the District of Columbia.
Chandler says she views Paid Family and Medical Leave as being like an insurance program or unemployment.
The proposal would allow businesses with four or fewer employees to bow out of paying premiums into the fund.
