Family leave bill too costly
State should drop proposed law and push for federal action
Updated: 06/06/08 6:42 AM
New York would be at a significant disadvantage if the Senate were to adopt a measure already passed by the Assembly enabling up to 12 weeks of paid leave for employees of newborns, families adopting children and caregivers of sick parents, spouses or children.
The measure is supported by the governor and was approved last month by the Assembly, and is currently before the State Senate, where it failed to make it to a vote. Hopefully, that will be the end of it in New York. The question to ask is if this proposal will add to private-sector job growth. The answer is no.
It’s not that paid family leave is a terrible idea; it’s that New York’s dysfunctional Legislature has already put the state at a severe competitive disadvantage with other states. This matter would be much better handled at the federal level, where it would cover all states. Current federal law, which applies to companies with more than 50 employees, requires employers to provide 12 weeks of unpaid family leave per year to care for newborns or sick family members.
If this legislation is passed, New York would join California, Washington and New Jersey, which have similar mandates. Only California’s mandate is operational. Offering Cadillac benefits places New York at a disadvantage when businesses choose to locate, an even greater issue in struggling areas of upstate and Western New York, especially where the competition is Pennsylvania and Ohio.
New York State can hardly afford to be in a situation in which workers will automatically receive a maximum of 50 percent of their regular weekly pay, up to a maximum of $170 per week. And while those payments would be funded through a mandatory payroll tax of 45 cents per week paid by workers throughout the state, it does amount to more than a hill of beans.
The Business Council of New York State, which has launched a new Web-based electronic-advocacy campaign opposed to the measure, makes several valid points, including the fact that New York already struggles with job creation costs and mandates that are among the nation’s highest. Small businesses would invariably struggle to meet this new mandate, which is based on the assumption that New York employers do not already provide paid leave at substantial cost.
The New York Family Leave Coalition has made the case that the work force is changing. Work hours have increased without the benefit of affordable child care, paid sick leave and family leave. It’s a problem begging for an across-the-board solution at the federal level.
Increasing paid family leave is a good social policy, but on a state-by-state basis, it is unaffordable. Especially for New York.
