Paid family leave bill clears first hurdle

SANTA FE -- A proposal to create a state-run paid family and medical leave program in New Mexico cleared its first hurdle Wednesday after passing a committee on a party-line vote.

But if the debate before the House Health and Human Services Committee was any indication, the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act seems poised to face much of the same opposition that has stalled it for the past five years: criticisms that the plan will hurt small businesses, that it's written too broadly and that it leaves itself open to abuse.

The proposed program, which has been reintroduced in various incarnations since 2019, would be run by the Department of Workforce Solutions at an estimated $36 million startup cost. It would be funded on an ongoing basis by invested contributions from qualified employers and employees.

Last year, the proposal made it through the Senate before dying in a House committee just days before the end of the session.

Workers could apply for up to 12 weeks of pay from the program under a number of circumstances, including during parental leave, if they're facing a serious medical condition or if they need time away from work to care for a relative or a close nonrelative.

The program exempts employers with fewer than five employees, as well as those who offer similar or better self-funded benefits packages that don't wish to participate. Federal employees would not be subject to the program, nor would tribes and pueblos.

Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque, a co-sponsor of House Bill 6, said the bill would be a major help for people like her: At one point a low-income, working single mother with a history of medical issues, she later became a caregiver to two sets of aging parents.

"This is a workforce empowerment bill that's aimed at helping our families retain employment, [and] helping our families be able to take care of their families," said Roybal Caballero, calling the proposal a "win-win" for employers and workers.

"If you have a healthy workforce with a good sense of well-being in their employment, then they increase their potential in that workforce," she said.

This year's bill includes a number of changes, such as expanding potential beneficiaries to include relatives of military members on active duty or who are about to called to active duty, adding a requirement for an actuarial consultant to analyze how the program is working, and capping employee contributions at the same level as for Social Security, according to co-sponsor Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos.

But critics said they don't think the bill protects against overburdening businesses. Several people said the proposal could be especially onerous for employers that rely in part on Medicaid, like some early childhood centers or organizations that provide care to disabled people. Those organizations, they said, are at the mercy of the state's Medicaid reimbursement rates.

Patsy Romero, president and CEO of Santa Maria El Mirador, a Santa Fe care facility for adults with intellectual disabilities, said her agency receives 97% of its funding from Medicaid and the rest from the state's general fund.

"My rates cannot continue to afford to pay for these unintended consequences," Romero said.

Chandler said she agrees state legislators need to examine Medicaid reimbursement rates.

"The solution is not to deny this program because there are those concerns," she said. "The solution is, do what's right through Medicaid so that those companies that receive Medicaid reimbursements get a fair reimbursement and they will be able to absorb whatever small costs ... are associated with administering this plan."

Those costs come to $4 for every $1,000 an employer pays in wages, according to Chandler.

Some employers also raised concerns about how they will be able to hire help to cover for employees' work while they're out on leave under the program. While the fund itself would pay for those workers' time, representatives of industries including cattle ranchers and medical providers said it's not that easy to find fill-in help.

"Hiring temporary clinical staff is next to impossible as recruitment for physical therapists in the state is very difficult," said Amy Dixon, executive director of Desert States Physical Therapy network.

Chandler said the types of crises the bill is meant to address often lead to workers leaving their jobs anyway, sometimes permanently.

"This bill does not create the illness," she said. "It does not create a need. It addresses a need."

Rep. Jenifer Jones, R-Deming, said she is concerned the bill doesn't restrict beneficiaries to people who have a serious emergency or people who need to care for an immediate relative. Instead, it allows for people related both "by blood or by affinity."

"That really leaves the door open for anyone," said Jones, who voted against the bill.

Co-sponsor Rep. Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe, said the language is the same that's used by federal employers and is common in other states that have adopted similar measures. She also said the language takes into account more LGBTQ+ family units, as well as extended family networks.

She also pointed out the measure requires written notice from a medical provider, who will have to be explicit about what the applicant is going to do to care for another person.

"You don't just sign up to bathe someone and wipe someone and care for their babies," she said.

Supporters said the paid family and medical leave program would be a valuable tool.

Awesta Sarkash, public policy director for national advocacy group Small Business Majority's work in New Mexico, said it could help small businesses with limited resources recruit and retain workers.

"Small businesses' ... employees often leave to work at larger businesses, sometimes in other states, undercutting our small-business economy," she said.

Allen Sánchez, executive director of the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops, said his organization considers the measure a "family values bill."

"There is life after birth. Those infants need their parents with them at this crucial time," Sánchez said. "There is a cost, and we believe it's worth paying that cost."

The bill heads next to the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee, where it died last year.

A competing measure, House Bill 11, would establish a similar paid family and medical leave program, but with much narrower parameters. That bill was also due to be heard in House Health and Human Services on Wednesday but was postponed.