Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) After months of negotiations behind closed doors, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson is out with the latest version of what could turn out to be the most generous paid leave program in the country, applying to anyone who works in the District.
The original 16-week proposal has been whittled down to 11 weeks for parents caring for newborns. Those assisting an ailing parent or grandparent would receive 8 weeks of paid leave.
Employees would be able to receive up to 90 percent of his or her pay, capped at $1,000 per week. The money would be drawn from an account funded through a 0.62 percent payroll tax on employers, well below the original proposal’s rate of one percent. A more expensive component of the bill allowing workers to take time off to care for one’s own medical problems was eliminated to arrive at the lower tax rate.
Even though the tax is well under the original proposal’s rate, business advocates still believe the bill could place another large burden on D.C. businesses that are already feeling weighed down.
“We’re already beginning to see that companies are not giving the District of Columbia their first look,” Greater Washington board of Trade President Jim Dinegar told WMAL. “They’re actually looking at Fairfax, and Arlington, and Montgomery County.”
Dinegar said his biggest concern isn’t the legislation as it stands now, but the possibility that it sees a snowball-effect of additional measures attached over time.
“They start with this, and then it slowly incorporates more, and more, and .62, becomes one percent, becomes two percent,” he said. “That’s been the track record in the District of Columbia with legislation like this.”
The controversial measure could also attract the attention of the Trump administration and Republican Congress come January, which has the ultimate say over D.C. laws.
“We are concerned…as to whether or not they’re going to go with the national scope of this program, and whether or not they’re going to roll back parts of Affordable Care that would be an added cost to the District,” Dinegar said.
The business climate in the District could be worsening, Dinegar said.
“The District did their reduction of the sales tax, and then this begins to be another hike. There needs to be more consistency,” he said. “This may not be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, but this is another big straw on the camel, and it’s hard to tell when that breaks.”
The Council is expected to take a preliminary vote on the measure next week.
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