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Vermont Governor Vetoes Statewide Paid Family Leave Bill


Last Friday, Vermont Governor Phil Scott vetoed a piece of legislation that would have provided up to 12 weeks of paid family leave to many workers in the state.

Readers might recall that last January, Governor Scott joined with New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu to introduce the Twin State Voluntary Leave Plan.  That Twin State Voluntary Leave Plan would be voluntary (yes, it is obvious from the name but I wanted to clarify) and would have provided workers up to 6 weeks of paid family and medical leave, funded by an insurance carrier.  Democrats were quick to criticize both of the Republican Governors, calling the Twin State Voluntary Leave Plan a "PR stunt" and "useless".

As a result, we got this piece of legislation introduced in the Vermont Legislature which would have made the paid family leave mandatory (rather than the Twin State's voluntary proposal) and provided up to double the amount of paid leave.  However, Governor Scott vetoed this legislation over concerns about how it would be funded (via a $29 million payroll tax.)

With that being said, Vermont House Speaker Mitzi Johnson has suggested there might be enough votes in the Vermont Legislature to override the Governor's veto.  Stay tuned (well to both this, and the results of the Iowa caucus which still have yet to be announced as of this morning...)



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