WASHINGTON – Senate Leader Mitch McConnell urges companies and governments to deny sick leave to employees who become ill from COVID-19.
While Congress negotiates a year-end pandemic bill, McConnell is trying to block an extension of a paid sick leave program for people who get COVID that expires in two weeks, according to multiple Hill sources with knowledge of the negotiations.
In March, Congress passed a law requiring employees to take two weeks of paid sick leave if they contract COVID, two weeks of paid sick leave to care for a family member in quarantine, and up to 10 weeks of paid family leave to care for. for a child whose school or daycare is closed for COVID-related reasons.
These provisions expire at the end of the year. Democrats initially tried to broaden and expand the scope of the program. Those goals were lowered to just an extension of the program for a few more months due to Republican opposition, a Senate aide said. Now the Republicans, led by McConnell, are totally opposed to an extension of the program.
Paid sick leave had already been watered down to exempt large companies. Any company with more than 500 employees is not subject to the obligation to provide paid time off.
“That was a concession the Democrats made to the Republicans,” a Democratic assistant said on the negotiations in March.
Companies with fewer than 50 employees can also apply for exemptions. The federal government pays the bill for all paid leave expenses for businesses through refundable tax credits.
But state and local governments are not eligible for the tax credit and have to bear the sickness absence costs themselves. Senator Lamar Alexander, the powerful Republican chair of the Senate Health Committee, said this is why he opposes an extension of the program.
“Paid sick leave is a good idea. We’re doing it in my office, the federal government is doing it now, and a lot of companies are doing it. Unfortunately, the current paid leave proposals impose billions of dollars in an unfunded mandate on state and local governments, ”Alexander said in a statement to BuzzFeed News. “If the federal government wants to demand paid leave, the federal government has to pay for it.”
However, the federal government cannot afford it, as Republicans also prevent funding for state and local governments from being included in the bill. This funding was one of the most important demands of democratic negotiators. But it was pulled out of the package, along with a Republican proposal for corporate COVID lawsuit immunity, as these were seen as the two most controversial negotiating points.
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The requirement for paid sick leave was expected to cost $ 105 billion, but according to a Health Affairs study, companies had claimed just $ 1.3 billion in tax credits by the end of October. The study found that paid sick leave reduced the spread of COVID and predicted that a four to six month extension would cost $ 8 billion to $ 13 billion. That’s a small fraction of the total COVID bill, which is expected to be around $ 900 billion.
“There is absolutely no reason, and no excuse, not to extend the life-saving two-pronged leave policy that is already on the books. Anything less would make absolutely no sense and be a disaster for millions of workers who would not have to choose between their health or their salary, ”said Senator Patty Murray, the leading Democrat on the Senate Health Committee.
McConnell’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Negotiations are expected to continue over the weekend.