Senate Democrats on Monday forced through an extreme bill that mandates a one-size-fits-all paid leave program for small and medium sized businesses across the state. The proposal creates a new large government agency, takes away benefits that employees currently have and like, and increases taxes for every Minnesotan. The tax hike is expected to be at least $1.5 billion for the first year of the program with increasing costs every year afterward.

“The Democrat proposal for paid family leave is a one-size-fits-all mandate that will shift the burden of cost down to every employee and taxpayer in Minnesota,” said Senator Eric Pratt (R-Prior Lake). “Senate Republicans agree that paid family leave will benefit families across the state. We’ve put forward a plan that focuses on providing businesses with the needed flexibility to implement a paid family leave program that suits their business and the needs of their employees. Senate Republicans have tried all session to work on a bipartisan solution but were ignored along the way. Minnesotans expect us to be working together to meet the needs of everyone with a stake in this issue, but this bill fails to do so and instead represents yet another hyper-partisan solution.” 

Learning from mistakes made by other states, Senate Republicans put forward an alternative plan to harness the private market and make paid leave easier for employers to offer. The plan would have provided small businesses with needed flexibility to implement a program that meets their employees’ needs by giving tax credits to employers offering the paid family leave benefits. The plan received support from Democrats, Independents, and Republicans when it passed in the Senate last year.

Before the bill came to the Senate floor, Senate Republicans held a press conference with small business owners and school officials, who raised concerns with the Democrat proposal.

The bill passed on a party line vote.