Stipend for new parents OK’d
OLYMPIA – Breaking a key deadlock as the legislative session enters its final hours, the state House of Representatives voted Friday night to launch a controversial $250-a-week stipend for workers who take time off to bond with their newborn or adopted child.
“Passing paid family leave to care for a new child is the very best Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gift that we can give to parents here in Washington state,” said Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, D-Seattle.
The stipends, to begin in late 2009, would last for up to five weeks. Under federal law, workers at companies with 50 or more employees can take off up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for newborns or ailing family members.
Friday’s bill was a whittled-down version of a plan approved last month by the Senate. Instead of paying for the stipend with a 2-cents-an-hour tax on every worker in the state – about $41.60 a year – the plan now calls for a study to recommend a source. But to get things started, the state would borrow up to $18 million from the worker’s compensation fund.
The House also stripped off a Senate provision that would have allowed the benefit for foster parents as well.
Many Republican lawmakers objected to the bill. They said it’s unfair to tax all workers for a benefit that most will never use. They say it will also hurt small businesses to lose workers for a month or more.
If families want children, they should take it upon themselves to save money to take time off to bond, said Rep. Maureen Walsh, R-Walla Walla.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that enough is enough,” she said. “If you’re going to have a family, prepare for that family.”
Many families can’t afford that, responded Rep. Ruth Kagi, D-Lake Forest Park.
“They barely can pay their rent and their food now,” she said. And as for taking paid vacation time after a baby’s born, she said, more than 40 percent of employers don’t offer paid vacation or sick time.
“It is not a luxury to stay home the first month of a baby’s life and have an opportunity to really get to know that child and bond with that child. It is a necessity,” Kagi said.
Other critics predict the stipend would backfire.
“The more we spend trying to help, the more (people) we have to help, because we’re the major driver, the major cause of people having need,” said Rep. Jim Dunn, R-Brush Prairie. He predicted that losing workers for weeks at a time would drive companies out of business.
“We’re setting the Legislature on record as saying that it’s OK to tax one working mother to benefit another mother not to work,” protested Rep. Bruce Chandler, R-Granger. “That is quite simply not fair.”
The bill now goes back to the Senate, which is likely to concur and send the bill on to Gov. Chris Gregoire. The governor, according to a spokeswoman, is supportive of the idea.