Posted May 25, 2007

From the State House to your house, developments in the halls of government regularly affect the halls of your home. This week was no different as the State Senate moved one step closer to providing paid family leave for workers to allow them to care for ill family members, newborn babies, or newly adopted children.

The measure, which passed the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee by an 8-6 vote on Thursday, is sponsored by Senators Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) and Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester). While federal law currently allows for up to 12 weeks of paid family leave, New Jersey legislators reduced the number to 10, which still remains four weeks longer than California’s allowance. Currently California and Washington are the only states offering paid leave.

New Jersey labor leaders had lobbied strongly for the proposal, arguing that the cost would be borne by employees themselves through higher payroll taxes. In his testimony before the Committee, New Jersey AFL-CIO president Charles Wowkanech stated that the average worker would pay approximately $.50 per week for the program, while only the wealthiest workers would pay $1 per week.

Similarly, Jon Shure, president of the liberal think tank New Jersey Policy Perspective
applauded the measure, stating “It sends a message that we as a society value work and family, and that we will help people deal with the increasingly hard job of balancing the two.”

State business leaders, however, are concerned that, if passed, the bill would adversely impact the New Jersey business climate, which has already suffered due to the state’s tax structure. New Jersey Chamber of Commerce President Joan Verplanck called the bill “one more nail in the coffin” of business enterprise in a state which is “becoming difficult – if not impossible for our businesses to survive.” According to the Chamber, “New Jersey already has a hard time attracting businesses to the state – this will make it even more difficult and will place us at a major disadvantage.”

New Jersey Business and Industry Association President Philip Kirschner worries that the measure will particularly impact small businesses. “Unlike the existing unpaid leave laws, which apply to employers with 50 or more employees and exempt 1-49 employees,” Kirschner stated, “this bill applies to every employer, no matter how small.”

The Senate has not yet set a date for a full vote on the bill, and Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts (D-Camden) doubts that the Assembly will consider the bill before it breaks for summer recess.

In other Trenton news, on Monday, the Assembly Judiciary Committee passed “Nicole’s Law,” which allows victims of sex offenses to obtain temporary or permanent restraining orders against their offender. Specifically, the bill permits victims to obtain a temporary restraining order any time after the defendant is indicted or charged with carrying out a sex offense. The bill’s namesake, Nicole Michele Norberto, was raped in 2003 at age 15 and subsequently harassed by her assailant via phone calls, instant messages, and drives past her house. Nicole’s Law now proceeds to the full Assembly for a vote. The Senate passed identical legislation in March.

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