WASHINGTON — People packed a D.C. Council hearing Thursday to speak for and against a controversial plan to provide several weeks of paid time off for residents.
Whether it is parents welcoming in a new born or an employee caring for a relative suffering from a serious illness, the proposed law would make available to them up to 16 weeks of paid time off.
The Universal Paid Leave Act, which has been called “too broad” by Mayor Muriel Bowser, brought more than 130 people to John A. Wilson Building.
The bill introduced to the council would be paid for by employers with a 1 percent payroll tax. The city is unable to force the federal government to contribute, but government employees would have the opportunity to participate by paying the tax out of their paychecks.
“It can help businesses in attracting employees, help businesses in retaining employees,” said council chair Phil Mendelson.
While supporting the bill, Mendelson provided a new draft that calls for only 12 weeks of paid leave. It also lowered the maximum reimbursement employees can receive from the plan.
Mendelson’s revisions called for individuals earning less than double the city’s minimum wage to be reimbursed 90 percent of their check, down from 100 percent in the original draft. People making more than that each week would see would see 50 percent of their paycheck with a payout cap set at $1,500.
Mendelson’s bill also limited eligibility to private sector jobs and narrowed the definition of family to only include immediate members, individuals an employee has legal custody over and foster children.
Some speakers held babies and shared their stories of struggling to pay bills and care for their new born without paid leave.
“I tried to save up before I knew I was going to be on leave but by the end of the first week I was out of diapers and wipes, and couldn’t buy more,” said store clerk Shawna Davis, who lives in Ward 7.
Others told the council about their difficulty paying bills while fighting serious illnesses.
“Without legislation like the Universal Paid Leave Act, more and more families would be forced to leave they city they call home,” Mathew Hanson, with D.C. Working Families, told the council.
The big question that remains for the council is whether or not it can be shown that the payroll tax would be able to fully fund the plan.
“It is crucial that if this program suffers deficient funding that the burden does not fall on the business community,” said Kathy Hollinger, President & CEO Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington.
The plan has to make its way through City Council and then earn the mayor’s support, something Bowser has said it doesn’t have in its current form.
