Corzine signs paid
family leave bill
By MICHAEL RISPOLI,
from the Web, May 3, 2008
New Jersey became the third state to
provide paid family leave Friday, as Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed into law the
program allowing workers in the state to take paid time off to care for a
newborn child, newly adopted child or sick relative.
After the bill pushed by labor groups for more than a decade narrowly passed the
state Legislature this year, Corzine called Friday's signing a “legacy day'' for
all those involved with getting the legislation. Corzine said the program was a
“moral necessity'' for New Jersey's working families.
“We are actually impacting the lives of human beings in this state in a way that
will make a huge difference for their families,'' said Corzine.
The leave program will allow workers to take up to six weeks of paid leave
starting in July 2009. Workers on paid leave would receive two-thirds of their
pay, up to $524 a week. The program will be employee-funded through a new
payroll tax that will begin to be collected in January that goes into an
insurance fund workers can tap, at an estimated cost of $33 a year for most
employees.
Supporters said workers should not have to choose between spending time with a
newborn or a sick relative and going to work in order to pay the bills.
“A lot of politicians talk about family values, but then they fail to act,''
said New Jersey AFLCIO President Charles Wowkanech. “Here what you're witnessing
is a telltale sign that that's not the case in New Jersey.''
The bill-signing was conducted before a crowd of over 100 labor and advocacy
groups, who gave 10 standing ovations to Corzine, legislators who sponsored the
bill and other speakers. Cheers erupted as Corzine held the newly signed law in
the air and said, “Here we go, folks.''
New Jersey becomes the third state in the nation to have enacted such a program. California currently has the only operating family leave program, and Washington
state passed the law last year but has not begun operating it.
Opponents, mostly from the business community, say the program will exact
another toll on the economy in a state that many already view as having a poor
business climate. Philip Kirschner, president of the New Jersey Business and
Industry Association, said he was “astounded'' Corzine would sign the bill into
law as businesses struggle during a national recession.
“It really shows the disconnect that some people in Trenton have with what's
happening in the economy,'' said Kirschner. “It's like kicking someone when
they're down.''
Supporters dismissed the doom and gloom predicted by the business community.
“California hasn't fallen into the ocean yet … it's still there. It didn't
hurt,'' said Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, sponsor of
the legislation.
The program, estimated to pay out more than $90 million annually, complements
the federal family leave law, which allows for 12 weeks of unpaid leave for
employees in businesses with more than 50 employees. The paid leave would
replace part of the unpaid time, not add to it.
New Jersey's law extends to workers at both small and large companies, but
workers in companies with 50 or less employees are not guaranteed their job if
they take the paid leave.
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