Paid Family Leave Program Would Have Helped Colorado’s Small Businesses

A Colorado Senate committee's decision today to reject HB17-1307, the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program Wage Replacement (FAMLI) Act, is disappointing because it would have benefited small businesses by lowering turnover, boosting productivity and enhancing employee morale.  

The FAMLI Act would establish a state-administered paid family and medical leave insurance program, funded by modest employee contributions, that would provide workers in Colorado with up to 12 weeks of paid leave per year to bond with a new child or care for a seriously ill family member. This will provide a substantial benefit to small employers who want to offer this type of benefit but don’t have the resources to do so. 

Given those positive outcomes, it’s no surprise that Small Business Majority’s recent scientific opinion polling found 56 percent of small employers across the country favor the creation of state-administered paid family and medical leave insurance programs funded entirely by modest employee contributions. What’s more, 70 percent of small business owners and operators say it is important to establish a national paid medical and family leave insurance program. In the absence of that sort of program, however, a state program here in Colorado would have been a vital first step in leveling the playing field for small businesses that are unable to offer paid family medical leave benefits.

Small business owners understand how important it is for their employees who need to balance their work and family responsibilities to have reasonable options for doing so, but they need options that also make sense for their bottom lines. The FAMLI Act satisfies all of those concerns, which is why we hope lawmakers will consider moving forward with this type of measure in the future.