Testimony is divided as Maine lawmakers consider paid family and medical leave for most workers

AUGUSTA — A bill to create a state-run insurance program that would allow most Maine workers to take paid family or medical leave drew mixed testimony at a four-hour committee hearing Friday.

The measure, sponsored by House Speaker Sara Gideon, D-Freeport, would fund the program with a new tax on wages of about .75 percent. That would generate $145 million a year for the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Fund, from which the benefits would be paid, plus an estimated $6 million to $7 million a year in administrative costs.

Eligible workers could take up to 12 weeks of family leave and up to 20 weeks of medical leave a year.

Some Maine businesses already offer paid medical and family leave but others do not, meaning many workers can take only 12 weeks off without pay, after using any sick or vacation time they’ve accrued, as allowed under federal law. While such leave is most commonly used by mothers after the birth of a child, it is also used increasingly by workers to care for elderly family members.

Read more: https://www.sunjournal.com/2019/04/19/debate-swirls-around-paid-family-and-medical-leave-bill/
(Lewiston Sun Journal)