Legislative Committee Approves Paid Sick Leave Bill; Reports Indicate Bill is Likely to Pass

Connecticut’s prospects of becoming the first state with a broad paid sick leave provision got a little closer on Tuesday as a legislative committee voted 8-3 (along party lines) to approve the measure.  While such a step was not unexpected (it passed committee last year), it is another indication that proponents of the measure are not willing to let this issue go away without a fight.

I’ve discussed the bill several times before and it appears that the basic structure of paid sick leave bill (H.B. 6187) has remained unchanged. 

The measure would  require every business of 50 employees or more to grant workers one hour of paid sick time for every 40 hours of work with a cap of 6.5 paid days per year.  You can find the text of the bill here. 

Last year, there was strong opposition to the bill, including the Connecticut Business and Industry Association.  You can find the CBIA’s rationale for opposing the bill here.  That opposition was noted by the My Left Nutmeg bill, which captured the rationale in support of the bill. 

There is no indication that the CBIA’s opposition is softening, but the Republican-American is reporting this morning that both "proponents and opponents" of the bill believe the bill will be passed this year.