Steve Burns

WMAL.com

ANNAPOLIS – (WMAL) For the second year in a row, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has introduced his own version of a bill to provide Maryland workers with paid sick leave, while also assailing the paid leave bill passed by the General Assembly last session, which he vetoed.

In introducing his own bill, Hogan said he is looking to put out an olive branch to the General Assembly ahead of a possible veto override vote.

“Instead of a bipartisan bill that would continue to move Maryland forward in a positive direction, we got a bill that would be disastrous to our state economy,” Hogan said Tuesday. “It would make Maryland less competitive in the region.”

Hogan also detailed the findings of a study he ordered after his veto.

“The findings strongly confirm that the vetoed bill has major policy and legal flaws, and numerous unintended negative consequences,” he said.

The bill passed by the General Assembly mandates businesses with 15 or more employees provide paid sick leave for employees working more than 12 hours per week. Workers could accrue up to five days off per year. Hogan’s bill would increase that to businesses with 25 or more workers, phasing it in over three years. A separate bill would also provide tax incentives for smaller businesses to provide paid leave.

“It would give the smallest of Maryland businesses and job creators time to plan for this and to prepare for it financially and build it into their budgets,” Hogan said.

Hogan’s last attempt at a paid leave bill mandated paid leave for businesses with 50 or more workers. The General Assembly did not act on it.

The bill approved by the General Assembly passed with a slim veto-proof majority. Leaders have indicated they plan to take up an override first thing next session.

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