Today, the labor and public employees committee passed a bill that would require businesses with 50 or more employees to give workers paid sick days. The vote was 6-4.
Voting in favor of the bill were six Democrats: Sen. Edith Prague, D-Columbia, Rep. Kevin Ryan, D-Oakdale, Rep. Tim O’Brien, D-New Britain, Rep. Louis Esposito Jr., D-West Haven, Sen. Edwin Gomes, D-Bridgeport, and Rep. Barbara Lambert, D-Milford.
Voting against the bill were Rep. William Aman, R-South Windsor, Rep. Selim Noujaim, R-Waterbury, Rep. Ernest Hewett, D-New London, and Sen. Anthony Guglielmo, R-Stafford Springs.
Hewett was the only Democrat to vote against the bill.
“He lost a lot of jobs in his district, and he knows this is not the time to add mandates,” said Kia Murrell, an attorney who lobbies on labor issues for CBIA, the chief opponent of the bill.
The bill is now likely headed to the judiciary and appropriations committees before hitting the Senate floor. The bill died in the Senate last year without a vote after lawmakers said the issue was tied at 18 to 18.
Murrell, who has been following the issue closely for CBIA, would not predict whether the current count is 18 to 18 or 19-17 in the Senate.
“It’s shaky all around,” Murrell told Capitol Watch. “It will go down to the wire. I never predict because I never want to eat my words.”
No states have adopted a paid sick leave bill. Three cities – San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Milwaukee – currently have such policies.