Senate vote puts state closer to offering paid family leave

OLYMPIA -- The state Senate on Wednesday approved a paid-family-leave bill that Democrats said would help Washington keep pace with the industrialized world and Republicans warned is another step down the path to socialism.

The legislation, which was scaled back from an earlier version, would give employees up to five weeks of paid leave a year to bond with a newborn or adopted child, or to care for an ailing parent or child.

"This is such a reasonable measure," Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, said during Wednesday's floor debate. "We need to do this. We're behind the times."

Republicans, however, had a very different perspective.

"This is a new tax, a new entitlement, a new bureaucracy," said Sen. Janea Holmquist, R-Ephrata.

Under the legislation, leave payments would initially be capped at $250 per week and then would grow with inflation. To pay for the new program, the state would impose a payroll tax of 2 cents an hour per employee -- about $40 per year.

Large businesses would be required to hold jobs open for employees who take family leave, but businesses with fewer than 25 workers would be exempt from that requirement.

The Senate also added a provision that would give businesses with fewer than 50 workers a $1,200 tax break each time they have to hire a replacement for an employee who takes leave.

The original version of the bill would have allowed employees to use the new benefit for personal sick leave. And there were no exemptions or tax breaks for small business.

Federal law already requires businesses with 50 or more employees to offer 12 weeks of unpaid family medical leave.

After passing the state Senate on a 32-17 vote, the bill moves to the House.

If lawmakers approve the $250-per-week benefit, Washington would have one of the most generous paid-leave programs in the nation.

The legislation, Senate Bill 5659, is a top priority this year for a broad coalition of advocacy groups and labor unions.

During Wednesday's debate, Sen. Harriet Spanel, D-Bellingham, talked about spending time in Denmark and Sweden, where she said people routinely took paid leave to care for newborns and "didn't complain about the taxes they paid" to cover those benefits.

But critics weren't swayed by the Democrats' comparisons to other nations.

"Why would we ever want to emulate the socialist countries?" said Sen. Val Stevens, R-Arlington.

Republicans pointed to the legislation's price tag -- estimated at more than $100 million a year -- and the fact that the state will need to add about 100 employees to run the program. And they warned that, once the program is in place, supporters will push for even more generous leave benefits.

The bill's prime sponsor, Sen. Karen Keiser, shrugged off those warnings.

"Every step of the way, we've heard predictions of gloom and doom," said Keiser, D-Des Moines.

Though a similar measure died in the Democrat-controlled House two years ago, supporters say it has a much better chance there this year. And while Gov. Christine Gregoire has not taken a position on the bill, aides say she is warming up to the idea.

"We're going to get this," Keiser said.

Ralph Thomas: 360-943-9882 or rthomas@seattletimes.com