Paid Family and Medical Leave Act Passes First Committee

The Paid Family and Medical Leave Act, House Bill 11, made it through its first committee. The House Health and Human Services Committee Monday passed the bill, on a 6 to 4 vote. It now heads to the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee.

HB 11 is sponsored by Representatives Christine Chandler, Linda Serrato, Patricia Roybal Caballero, and Sen. Mimi Stewart.

AARP New Mexico supports HB 11 because many family caregivers must manage caring for a loved one and working full-time. Staff and volunteers attended the hearing to show support.

“Many caregivers do not have access to paid time off should their loved one experience a serious or long-term illness, which causes them to leave the workforce,” said Othiamba Umi, AARP New Mexico Associate State Director for Advocacy. “PFML will provide some relief so that employees don’t have to choose between caring for themselves or a loved one and staying employed.”

Rep. Serrato, who addressed the committee first, said, “As many of you know New Mexico has one of the largest sandwich generations in the nation. A sandwich generation is when one cares for their parents and also their children.”

“There is a real fear that exists when you are part of the sandwich generation: if I am not available to care for my family then who will,” Serrato said.

She said analysis shows that PFML provides care when there is that gap in service, allowing workers the ability to care for their families. Adding, it is a safety net for New Mexico’s workforce that will help it grow but if New Mexico wants to attract new businesses and be on the cutting edge of industry, protections must be put in place that ensure the state’s workforce is safe.

Rep. Royball Caballero said she has had to call on her working children to provide care for herself.

“All employees come from families and all families have unforeseen circumstances come up, often necessitating working family members to help. It (would be) comforting to know employees can do so without the risk of losing their employment or employment status,” Roybal Caballero said.

Rep. Chandler explained the bill, which has some changes from the legislation introduced in 2024.

Under the current proposed legislation, up to 12 weeks of what is called family leave would be provided for new parents or parents, whose child under the age of 18, has died. Up to 9 weeks of leave would be available to an individual employee experiencing a serious illness or caring for a loved one, or the victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking. There is also what is called exigency leave for active-duty service members.

Under the plan, the employee would pay $5 into the fund for every $1,000 they earn, while the employer would pay $4 for every $1,000 paid out.

As expected, several representatives of the business community and some business owners spoke against the bill citing the cost and burden it would place on business owners, particularly for small businesses. There were concerns that PFML would also impact staffing, an issue businesses have struggled with since the pandemic.

However, one small-business owner, who spoke in favor of the bill, said she calculated the cost for her 10 employees, and it would only be $32 a month for her to provide PFML for her employees, a cost, she said, she is more than willing to accept.

Chandler also reminded the committee that the issues that PFML would address will occur with or without PFML.

“Last year, when I was presenting before this committee, I said, and I think this still applies, is this bill does not get a person pregnant. This bill does not cause cancer,” she said.

“What this bill does is it provides a program to support these individuals with partial wage replacement and job protection so that they can deal with these issues without the stress of being concerned about being unemployed and unable to care for themselves or their families,” Chandler said.

There is no date set yet when the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee will hear the bill.