Paid maternity leave for state employees fails in Senate panel

A bill that would grant paid maternity leave to pregnant state employees failed Friday in an Arkansas Senate committee and will go to an interim committee for further study.

House Bill 1426 by Rep. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, was defeated in a 4-4 tie in the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee. Five votes were needed for passage.

Under the bill, pregnant employees would be able to take up to six weeks of paid leave with a maximum weekly benefit of $500. If an employee drew weekly pay of $300, she would receive $300. If the employee was paid more than $500 weekly, she could receive no more than $500.

Upon returning to work, employees also would be required to stay on the job four weeks for every week of leave and would be required to pay back the benefits if they don't fulfill that part of the agreement.

Employees would be eligible for the leave only for live births. Fathers wouldn't be eligible. Employees also couldn't take maternity leave for adoptions.

"It's about as restricted as it gets," Tucker said.

Both mothers and fathers are eligible to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which Tucker said can be a hardship for employers.

Tucker told the committee that making available paid maternity leave would help workforce development through improved morale, reduced absenteeism and less turnover.

"It makes Arkansas an attractive place to work for smart, young women relative to the private sector and other states surrounding Arkansas," he said.

He also said paid maternity leave would "strengthen families." Studies have tied paid leave to reduced infant mortality because, in part, the leave allows more time to develop the critical bond between a mother and her child.

Statistics developed by the Bureau of Legislative Research and the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration found that as many as 300 employees would be eligible every year and the benefit could cost up to $900,000 annually, but Tucker said "that assumes every eligible person takes the maximum leave."

Some committee members, while praising state employees, said that depending on years of service employees already can accrue and save other types of leave, including vacation, sick and personal days, that they could use as maternity leave.

"As much as we'd like to do something for everyone, this seems to be too much at this time," the committee chairman, Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers, said.

Others noted they made difficult votes to cut the budgets of some agencies earlier in the day. "I don't know how I can justify [the cuts] and support this," said Sen. John Cooper, R-Jonesboro.

"We also cut the capital gains tax," Sen. Stephanie Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, said.

Bledsoe and Cooper joined with Sens. Scott Flippo of Bull Shoals and Gary Stubblefield of Branch, both Republicans, in voting against the bill. Flowers was joined in voting yes by Sen. Keith Ingram of West Memphis, a Democrat, and two Republicans, Sens. Missy Irvin of Mountain View and David Sanders of Little Rock.

Metro on 03/28/2015

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