Though the 2020 legislative session has only just begun, the Legislature is already faced with a defining question: how to create and implement a paid family and medical leave program that protects all working Vermonters. While most people agree that such a program is necessary and, in fact, will support the health, well-being and economic security of Vermont’s children, families and small businesses, the devil remains in the details. A broad coalition of family, low-income and business advocates has been working diligently over the years to help craft a universal insurance program to help all working Vermonters. As a small business owner – my wife and I own Red Hen Baking Co. – we understand the benefits that a strong, equitable and universal paid leave program would have for our business, our employees and the entire economy, and have been a part of this coalition for years.
Unfortunately, this coalition can no longer support the bill that will land on the governor’s desk. H.107 has been touted as a universal paid leave bill. The reality is that the version of H.107 that passed the Legislature leaves thousands of Vermonters behind because it does not include a disability benefit. It also privatized the program, which will put the affordability and viability of the entire program at risk. As I know well from being a business owner, you cannot allow perfect to be the enemy of good. However, two provisions that have been stripped out of the bill are not provisions that can be revisited and repaired incrementally. They are structural and critical to the success of this program. This is not a step forward. It is not universal. It is a step in the wrong direction and should not be allowed to become law.
KEY PROVISION
A key provision that has been stripped out of H.107 is the guarantee to personal medical leave. The majority of leave claims across the country are made so that a person can recover from their own illness or injury. When a Vermonter suffers an illness or is hurt in an accident, there must be protections in place to ensure they have the ability to care for themselves and recover without worrying about where their next paycheck will come from. Unfortunately, the bill makes personal medical leave optional, leaving many of the most vulnerable Vermonters behind at the time when they need it most. A bill that does not automatically include every working Vermonter is a bill that will exacerbate the inequalities we already suffer from in this state.
At our business, we have long covered the full cost of personal disability insurance. It is well worth a little over $200 a year per employee for us to fund this plan. We have seen employees missing work for everything from broken bones to cancer and being saved by having some paid leave. Right now we have an employee who is receiving treatment for colon cancer. He is working as much as possible during his treatment because any days that he misses, he only gets 60 percent of his wages. (Of course, if he were working for many small businesses, he would have no wage replacement at all.) If he could receive 90 percent wage replacement, he would be able to focus more on his health. This would obviously be a better outcome for him but also for our business, the health care industry and the economy in general. It's a win-win-win.
As a business owner, I also understand the importance of the bottom line and ensuring that any program the state creates be cost effective and affordable. Guardrails were built into the original bill to protect this program from being profit motivated. In its current form, H.107 includes a privately run insurance program. What the Legislature is missing is that this program’s very success relies on it being publicly administered. A publicly run program would ensure the model is more affordable and accountable to the public. A profit-driven model cares little for the greater good and tends to have exorbitant administrative costs. A program administered by the state would pool risk and resources to provide a universal program that is efficient and affordable.
Small businesses and family groups alike supported the original version of H.107 because it fully promoted and protected the health and economic security of all working Vermonters and their families. Sadly, we can no longer support the bill that the Legislature is voting on because it is so fundamentally flawed.
George is the co-owner of Red Hen Baking Co. and the board chair of Main Street Alliance of Vermont, which is a member of the Vermont Family and Medical Leave Insurance Coalition.
