Early Saturday morning, Connecticut’s House of Representatives passed the mandatory paid sick leave bill (SB 913) by a narrow 76-65 vote.
Governor Malloy praised the vote and said he would sign the bill, making Connecticut the only state in the nation with the costly mandate.
The vote came at about 3 am, following an 11-hour debate, with 16 Democrats joining Republicans in opposing the bill. CBIA thanks the Republican caucus, which voted unanimously against the bill, and the Democrats who also stood up for jobs and voted no on the bill.
Being first in the U.S. to pass paid sick leave mandate is a dubious distinction and self-inflicted setback in the race for jobs and economic recovery.
While campaigning for election last fall and at the beginning of this General Assembly session, policymakers said they were dedicated to increasing jobs and improving the state’s business climate.
So far, they have failed on both: Since then, the legislature adopted record tax increases and pursued anti-business bills, including SB 913 and a captive audience bill limiting employers’ communication with employees.
“We all need to ask our elected officials why they are creating barriers to job creation,” said Joe Brennan, CBIA senior vice president of public policy. “We need to urge them to put politics aside and do what’s right for their constituents and local businesses. That means making the tough decisions that will restore business confidence and ensure a brighter future for everyone.”
With 119,000 jobs lost during the recession, an unemployment rate that’s stuck at 9.1% and the recent loss of several companies to neighboring states, Connecticut is in trouble.
“We are very, very concerned about the stability of the Connecticut economy,” Brennan said.
The state already is projected to be in last place in the U.S. for job growth over the next five years. While most other states are going all-out to encourage growth and job creation, Connecticut — with mandatory paid sick leave and nearly $2 billion in new tax increases — is moving in the opposite direction.
House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero (R-Norwalk) said SB 913 was “the absolutely worst thing we could do, the worst signal we could send.”
“What we need in the state of Connecticut is jobs, jobs, jobs,” Cafero said on the House floor. “The state of Connecticut is, in fact, not open for business. … There is incentives to decrease jobs.”
By contrast, Ohio rejected mandatory paid sick leave when lawmakers there discovered its costs and the fact that it would be a recruiting bonus for other states.
SB 913 escaped from the Senate last week by the narrowest of margins.
Along with the so-called captive audience bill (HB 5460), SB 913 sends a contrary message to the legislative session’s current “open for business” theme.
(Not to mention lays hollow the election campaign promises of so many lawmakers.)
There’s a lot of confusion about the bill’s impact. Rest assured, it will impact all employers in Connecticut, whether they have a sick leave policy or not.
It will mandate paid sick leave for many businesses, and subject all employers to potential costly retaliation by employees for alleged abuse.
The bill’s consequences are painful and many, not only to the state’s business community, but to our struggling economy.