Colorado Democratic senators pump brakes on paid family leave program

An internal split among Democratic senators scuttled lawmakers’ fifth attempt at passing a long sought-after paid family and medical leave program this legislative session.

Uncertainty about whether the proposed policy would be able to pay for itself left too many Democratic state senators, including those who support the concept, on the fence. Democrats control the Senate by just three votes. No Republicans were expected to support it.

Amid a scramble to rally enough votes and make last-minute changes in the waning weeks of the session, backers of the bill Wednesday culled their ambitions and instead offered a bill that would only study how much such a program would cost.

“I’m disappointed we couldn’t deliver the whole program,” said Sen. Faith Winter, a Democrat from Westminster who is sponsoring the bill. “But it’s still a step forward. We asked for two steps forward and we got one.”

Read more: https://www.coloradoindependent.com/2019/04/24/colorado-paid-family-leave/