Myth Vs. Reality: Paid Sick Leave

Governor Hogan Calls for Common Sense Paid Sick Leave, Urges General Assembly to Join Administration for Balanced Compromise by January

“Let’s reach a compromise to ensure that our small business job creators aren’t forced to lay off workers or shut their doors in order to comply with overly-strict, burdensome, and costly regulations. Let’s make sure that hardworking Marylanders don’t end up paying the price for a politicized legislative process. We owe it to the citizens of Maryland to work together and get this right by January.” - Governor Larry Hogan, May 25, 2017

MYTH:
By Vetoing House Bill 1, Governor Hogan Is Denying Paid Sick Leave Benefits To 700,000 Marylanders.

REALITY:
As Designed And Intended By The Bill's Authors, House Bill 1 Was Not Scheduled To Go Into Law Until January 2018, There Is Still Time To Correct This Flawed Proposal. “And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect January 1, 2018.” (“House Bill 1,” Maryland General Assembly, 5/5/17)

MYTH:
House Bill 1 Is A Bipartisan Paid Sick Leave Proposal.

REALITY:
House Bill 1 Faced Bipartisan Opposition. Seven Democrats Voted Against The Bill And Similar Legislation Failed To Pass Both Chambers Of The Maryland General Assembly 4 Times In The Past. (“House Bill 1,”Maryland General Assembly, 5/5/17; Dan Menefee, “Paid Sick Leave Bill Sent To Hogan, Who Has Pledged Veto,”Maryland Reporter, 4/5/17)
Democratic Senator Mathias Noted The "Concern" About Similar Legislation Proposed In 2016. “This bill caused great concern and anxiety, not just on the shore, but all across this great state of Maryland... We have to find a balance between helping our workers and protecting the employers.” (Bryan Russo, “‘Unrealistic’ Paid Sick Leave Bill Fails Again In Annapolis; Senate Fails To Vote On Legislation,” The Dispatch, 4/13/16)
Democratic Delegate Lisanti Suggested That She Voted Against Similar Legislation In 2016 Because It Did Not Include “Good Ideas.” “Del. Mary Ann Lisanti, the lone Democrat among Harford's legislators, was among House members who voted against the sick leave legislation, which passed, 84-54. The seven other Harford delegates also voted against it. . ‘I think we need to get creative and bring some good ideas to the table,’ Lisanti said.” (David Anderson, “Harford Legislators Warn Sick Leave Bill Will Return, Say More Mass Transit Is Needed Locally,” The Aegis, 4/22/16)
Democratic Delegate Carey Voted Against House Bill 1 Act Because It Would Hurt Businesses. “I was concerned this bill was going to hurt the businesses in my district,’ said Del. Ned Carey, D-Anne Arundel. ‘I heard from many that they may have to close their doors or lay people off to get below 15 employees…this could mean the loss of jobs.’ ‘Many of the businesses in my district are just scraping by and there are times business owners go without a paycheck,’ Carey said. ‘I don’t have a lot of big businesses in my district, most are mom and pop businesses that can’t afford to offer paid sick leave,’ Carey said in interview. ‘Businesses with 15 or 16 employees will be forced to rethink their staff levels and consider letting some people go.’” (Dan Menefee, “Paid Sick Leave Bill Sent To Hogan, Who Has Pledged Veto,” Maryland Reporter, 4/5/17)
Democratic Delegate Bromwell Voted Against House Bill 1, Because It Failed To Strike A Balance Between Employees And Businesses. “Eric Bromwell, D-Baltimore County, grew up in the restaurant businesses working alongside his brothers and mother at The Bromwell Inn in Overlea. He said the family originally lived above the restaurant and ‘put everything they made back into it.’ ‘Small business is a part of who I am and how I grew up,’ he said. He said his mother very much wanted to offer paid sick leave and health insurance but could never afford it. ‘It’s a very delicate balance between helping the employees or hurting the business.’” (Dan Menefee, “Paid Sick Leave Bill Sent To Hogan, Who Has Pledged Veto,” Maryland Reporter, 4/5/17)
Even Democratic Senate President Miller Stated That House Bill 1 Would Be "Onerous" On Small Businesses. SENATE PRESIDENT MILLER: “If you've got one person doing everything, it's certainly a lot more than that. I’m going to vote for the bill. But these companies, they don't have payroll people, they don't have insurance companies, health insurance companies involved. It's one person doing all the work and it's time to that person. It's worth it to me to get employee sick leave, but it's very onerous on small businesses." (“Senate Proceedings,” Maryland General Assembly, 3/9/17)

MYTH:
House Bill 1 Will Cover More Marylanders Than Governor Hogan’s Common Sense Paid Sick Leave Act Of 2017.

REALITY:
Governor Hogan’s Common Sense Paid Sick Leave Act Of 2017 Had The Potential To Cover 100% Of The Men And Women In Maryland’s Workforce. “An employee that employs 50 or more employees at each location of the employer shall provide an employee with paid time off that is paid at the same wage rate as the employee normally earns. An employer that employs fewer than 50 employees at each location of the employer is eligible for the subtraction modification under § 10-105.1 of the Tax - General Article if the employer: Provides all employees with paid leave in an amount at least equivalent to the total annual accrual amount provided in this section and allows all employers to use the paid leave for any reason.” (“Senate Bill 305,” Maryland General Assembly, 1/20/17)

MYTH:
According To Senators Rosapepe and Madaleno, Governor Hogan’s Common Sense Paid Sick Leave Act Of 2017 Was A "Radical" And "Partisan" Proposal.

REALITY:
According To A Washington Post Poll, Governor Hogan’s Proposal Legislation Allowing Businesses With Less Than 50 Employees To Receive Tax Incentives For Providing Paid Sick Leave Is Supported By Nearly 80% Of Marylanders. “There is also strong support for requiring businesses with 50 or more employees to offer the benefit, and 78 percent of respondents said they would support tax benefits for businesses with fewer than 50 workers that provide paid sick leave.” (Scott Clement and Fenit Nirappil, “Hogan’s Deep Popularity In Md. Weakens When Voters Consider 2018, Post Poll Finds,” The Washington Post, 3/22/17)


Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy Of Connecticut Signed A Law Using The Same 50 Employer Threshold As Governor Hogan's Proposed Legislation. “After 11 hours of debate in Hartford, state legislators approved a bill on Saturday to make Connecticut the first state in the nation to mandate paid sick leave for hundreds of thousands of service workers… Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a first-term Democrat who had named paid sick days as a campaign issue, said in a statement that the bill was measured and fair… The bill applies only to businesses with 50 or more employees.” (Peter Applebome, “In Connecticut, Paid Sick Leave For Service Workers Is Approved,” The New York Times, 6/4/11)

MYTH:
Governor Hogan’s Common Sense Paid Sick Leave Act Of 2017 Only Covers Individuals Who Already Receive Paid Sick Leave.

REALITY:
According To The Federal Bureau Of Labor Statistics 40% Of Employees In Maryland Working For Businesses With 50-99 Employees Do Not Receive Paid Sick Leave. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the more than 233,000 employees in Maryland employed by businesses with 50-99 workers, 40% do not receive paid sick leave.” (Bureau Of Labor Statistics)

MYTH:
Governor Hogan Is Not Committed To Expanding Paid Sick Leave For Marylanders.

REALITY:
Governor Hogan Has Made It Clear That He Supports Providing Paid Sick Leave To Marylanders; The Governor Has Asked Members Of The Majority Leadership To Put Aside Partisanship And To Work Together And Compromise, To Get This Right By January. GOVERNOR HOGAN: “I am again calling o our legislators to put the partisan politics aside, and to work together with us to pass a better bill - one that doesn’t kill jobs and small businesses. Let’s reach a compromise to ensure that our small business job creators aren’t forced to lay off workers or shut their doors in order to comply with overly strict, burdensome, and costly regulations… We owe it to the citizens of Maryland to work together in a bipartisan, common sense effort and get this right by January.” (Remarks, “Governor Larry Hogan Calls For Bipartisan Compromise On Paid Sick Leave,” 5/25/17)

MYTH:
According To Delegate Clippinger Governor Hogan’s Common Sense Paid Sick Sick Leave Act Of 2017 Is A "Corporate Giveaway."

REALITY:
Under Governor Hogan's Proposed Plan, Large Corporations Do Not Receive Tax Incentives For Offering Paid Sick Leave. “An employer that employs fewer than 50 employees at each location of the employer is eligible for the subtraction modification under § 10–105.1 of the Tax - General Article…” (“Senate Bill 305,” Maryland General Assembly, 1/20/17)

MYTH:
Governor Hogan Refused To Negotiate With Members Of The General Assembly On A Paid Sick Leave Proposal.

REALITY:
Governor Hogan Was The First Republican Governor In The Nation To Propose Paid Sick Leave Legislation; Democrats In The General Assembly Refused To Debate The Proposal Or Vote On The Proposal In Committee. (“House Bill 383,” Maryland General Assembly, 5/5/17; “Senate Bill 305,” Maryland General Assembly, 5/5/17)


Delegate Luke Clippinger Admitted That Democrats Are Unwilling To Engage With Governor Hogan. DELEGATE CLIPPINGER: Paid sick leave advocates "will not spend time worrying about the governor's window dressing" or "worrying about whatever his legislation would have done." ("Forward On HB 1 Rally," 5/30/17)

MYTH:
Governor Hogan’s Common Sense Paid Sick Leave Act Of 2017 Ignores Victims Of Sexual Assault And Domestic Violence.

REALITY:
The Baltimore Sun Editorial Board Noted That Under House Bill 1, Employees May Be Forced To Tell Employees More About Their Health Than Is “Warranted,” In Order To Use Their Paid Leave. “For example, the legislature's bill goes to great lengths to specify under what circumstances workers would be allowed to take sick days, what constitutes a ‘family member’ for whom a worker can use sick days to provide care, and for what purposes a victim of domestic violence may use time off. And it includes notice requirements that could force a worker to tell an employer more about his or her health than is necessary or warranted.” (Editorial, “Getting To Yes On Sick Leave,” The Baltimore Sun, 5/29/17)


Governor Hogan’s Common Sense Paid Sick Leave Act Of 2017 Protects The Privacy Of Victims, And Allows All Individuals To Use Leave Time For Any Reason, No Questions Asked; House Bill 1 Act May Require Employees To Verify Their Reason For Using Their Leave Time. “An employee that employs 50 or more employees at each location of the employer shall provide an employee with paid time off that is paid at the same wage rate as the employee normally earns… Allows all employees to use the paid leave for any reason.” (“Senate Bill 305,” Maryland General Assembly, 1/20/17; “House Bill 1,” Maryland General Assembly, 4/5/17)

MYTH:
House Bill 1 Will Bolster Maryland’s Economy.

REALITY:
Under House Bill 1 Maryland Stands To Lose Thousands Of Jobs And Billions In Economic Output. “Detailed forecasts for MD real output losses are given in Table 10 and Figure 3. As with employment, the output forecasts are presented as differences relative to a baseline forecast representing the path of the economy if the mandate is not implemented. The annual real output gap is forecast to average approximately $1.1 billion million from 2018 to 2027. In 2027, the output gap is projected to be $1.5 billion. Over the ten years spanning 2017 through 2026, the cumulative real output loss experienced by Maryland employers is forecast to total approximately $11.0 billion.” (Michael Chow, “Econometric Scoring Of Maryland House Bill No. 1: Economic Effects Of The Maryland Health Working Families Act On Maryland Small Businesses,” National Federation Of Independent Business, 2/5/17)

MYTH:
House Bill 1 Will Not Burden Small Businesses.

REALITY:
According The The The Maryland Department Of Legislative Services A Paid Sick Leave Proposal That Is Similar To The Proposal Passed By The General Assembly Could Cost Small Business Owners An Additional $445 Per Employee. “...DLS estimates it could cost employers with more than 14 employees approximately $445 per employee to provide new earned sick and safe leave to employees who do not already earn it.” (“House Bill 580,”Maryland Department Of Legislative Services, 4/11/16)

MYTH:
House Bill 1 Is A Fair Proposal For Maryland’s Small Businesses.

REALITY:
Maryland Small Businesses Are Unfairly Burdened With Excessive Regulations By House Bill 1; Employers Can Face Excessive Civil Penalties. “An employer that fails to keep accurate records or refuses to allow the Commissioner to inspect a record kept under subsection (a) of this section creates a rebuttable presumption that the employer violated the subtitle… An order issued under subparagraph (1) of this paragraph:... may, in the Commissioner’s discretion, direct the payment of an additional amount up to three times the value of the employee’s hourly wage for each violation; and may, in the Commissioner’s discretion, assess a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each employee for whom the employer is not in compliance with this subtitle." (“House Bill 1,” Maryland General Assembly, 5/5/17)

MYTH:
House Bill 1 Is A Flexible Proposal.

REALITY:
House Bill 1 Is Not A Compromise Proposal; Legislation Is Onerous On Small Businesses, Prescriptive, And Inflexible. “An employer must allow an employee to use earned sick and safe leave: to care for or treat the employee’s mental or physical illness, injury, or condition; to obtain preventive medical care for the employee or employee’s family member; to care for a family member with a mental or physical illness, injury, or condition; for maternity or paternity leave; and for specified circumstances due to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking committed against the employee or the employee’s family member.” (“House Bill 1,” Maryland Department Of Legislative Services, 5/10/17)