H.196 An Act Relating to Paid Family Leave

On Friday March 17th an act relating to paid family leave was voted out of the House committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs.  In a nutshell, the bill will allow employees to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave to take care of a serious illness for themselves or a family member, the employee's pregnancy or birth of a child, and placement of a child under 16 into foster care. The funding will come from a 0.93% payroll tax on employees.  For instance, if one makes $50,000 a 0.93% payroll tax will be $465.

This link takes you to the last draft of bill H196 and this link takes you to a study by the Vermont Commission on Women's feasibility study.  

Many believe this benefit will help attract younger workers to Vermont and also provide a needed benefit to our aging workforce.  

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts.  Please provide comments here or feel free to email me at lhoughton@leg.state.vt.us

​Thank you!