Gov. Hogan's paid sick leave veto overturned in General Assembly

A day after the General Assembly reconvened in Annapolis last week, the Democratic majority worked quickly to override multiple vetoes enacted by Gov. Larry Hogan (R) at the end of last year’s session.

Most notably, the House of Delegates and the State Senate voted to overturn the veto of the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act, colloquially known as the paid sick leave bill. The bill will require businesses with 15 or more employees to provide five days of sick leave. Democrats contend the bill will help more than 700,000 workers in the state, but a task force convened by Hogan earlier this year estimated the number was below half of that.

Needing 85 votes in the House of Delegates, the Democrats secured 88. Every member of the House representing Districts Six, Seven and Eight on Baltimore County’s east side voted to sustain Hogan’s veto. In the Senate, the override passed with a 30 - 17 count, and Sen. Bobby Zirkin (D-11) ultimately providing the bump needed to push the override. Zirkin was one of four Democrats - including Kathy Klausmeier (D-8), Jim Brochin (D-42) and James DeGrange (D-32) - who voted against the bill last year. He was the only one to flip.

“The sick leave bill Governor Hogan vetoed - which the legislature overrode - takes us in the wrong direction,” said Delegate Bob Long (R-6). “The bill is too complicated and goes too far. It unfairly exempts too many for unexplained reasons, and it could require disclosure of private medical information to your employer as a condition of actually taking a paid sick day.”

Read more: https://eastcountytimesonline.com/current-news
(Fifth story on the Current News page)