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PASSED
in the State House of Representatives
on April 5, 2019, by a vote of
92-52
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Purpose: To put in place a government-mandated Paid Family Leave program paid for with a new payroll tax on income up to $132,900 (the Social Security taxable maximum.)
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Analysis: This vote would establish a government-mandated insurance program allowing an employee to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave for the birth of a child, or 8 weeks for family or medical care. Employees would receive 90% of their weekly wages up to the “liveable wage” (currently calculated at $13.34/hr). Wages above that level and would receive 50% of their weekly wage. Wages above 2.5 times would not be covered. A maximum cap on the benefit would be set at $1,334 per week.
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This estimated $76 million per year new entitlement program would be paid for with a new 0.55% payroll tax. The tax would be mandatory for all employees, although employers would have the option to pay some or all of the tax on behalf of the employee. The cost to an employee making the median income in Vermont, about $58,000 per year, would pay about $318 annually. The cost to an employee earning the maximum taxable amount would be nearly $800 annually.
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Those voting YES believe this program will help retain and attract young families to Vermont while helping businesses to retain employees and providing a desirable social benefit.
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Those voting NO believe the state cannot afford another tax/entitlement program, that the estimated cost of the program is likely low, Vermonters cannot afford another tax, that the payroll tax is regressive a (this is equivalent to a roughly 15 percent total income tax increase, but a 17 percent increase on income tax payers in Vermont’s lowest bracket of 3.25 percent), that this poses another costly and time consuming administrative burden on small businesses, and that, if a program were to be adopted, it should not be mandatory.
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As Recorded in the House Journal, Friday, April 5, 2019: “Shall the bill pass? was decided in the affirmative. Yeas, 92. Nays, 52.” ( Read the Journal, p. 808-812.)
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i live here and i own a farm im looking to sell and get out of here before they kill me they have run me broke with repeated false charges and malicious prosecution because i protested first amendment violation on facebook for SPD banning people and deleting comment .. so they framed me told a judge i pulled a gun on them , they are vile a corrupt to the bone and brutally tortured me and the entire system covers it up