This year won’t see New Hampshire adopt a paid family and medical leave program after all.
The House Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services Committee on Tuesday voted, 20-1, to retain House Bill 628, which would establish a state-administered paid leave insurance program.
That means a subcommittee will study the bill over the summer, and the full committee will take it up again in November.
Bill sponsor Rep. Mary Gile, a Concord Democrat, said she was disappointed — but not defeated by — the outcome.
“It does slow the process down a year,” she said. But with more time to study the issue, Gile said, lawmakers might come to be more invested in the idea.
“I’m not discouraged,” she said. “People need time to understand.”
Gile has long advocated for paid family and medical leave in the Granite State.
The last time she introduced a bill to create such a program in 2009, it was also retained. Upon reconsideration, lawmakers asked for more research.
Committee Chairman Stephen Schmidt said on Tuesday that there was strong support in the committee about the bill — but concerns about the program’s sustainability.
“I don’t think any members of the committee had anything against the concept of family leave. But everything is in the details,” the Wolfeboro Republican said.
The bill would have created an opt-outable insurance pool with employees contributing 0.5 percent of their paychecks into the system. Employees who needed to take time off would have then been able to claim back a portion of their weekly wage for up to 12 weeks.
Schmidt said committee members were worried the bill didn’t include adequate projections for how many people might opt out, and no mechanism for changing the percentage contribution if the cost per participant went up to keep the program sustainable.
Schmidt also said that with Gov. Chris Sununu voicing support for paid family leave while campaigning for office, lawmakers were curious to see what kind of support he planned to provide the proposal in the budget he will unveil this week.