State lawmakers will hold a hearing in the coming days on paid family leave, Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeff Klein said on Tuesday in an interview.
The hearings come as both the Democratic-led Assembly and Republican-controlled Senate back differing paid family leave measures, the latter of which Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s spokeswoman has suggested is “half-a-loaf.”
IDC Sen. Diane Savino blasted the response from Cuomo’s office on Facebook.
“She suggests the Senate plan is a half loaf measure, well, then I say to you, Honey, a bake your own bread! We are ready for this discussion, put your ideas on the table!” Savino wrote.
But Klein in the interview this afternoon said the statement potentially opens the door to compromise.
“I think we need to focus our energies, focus on our enthusiasm on the issue at hand — paid family leave,” Klein said. “I’m hopeful this is a signal that we can negotiate something that everyone can live with that everyone can live with.”
The hearing would likely be sometime this month and involve the Senate’s Social Services and Labor committees, Klein said.
The forum could be a chance to bring both labor and business groups to the table on the issue.
“I’m not closing the door on any type of compromise on paid family leave,” Klein said. “I think the Assembly bill is a good one. I think our Senate bill is an important compromise as well. But we should be open to discussion. We need to open the discussion.”
The IDC-backed legislation does not include an expansion of the temporary disability insurance program. A bill backed by Democrats in the Assembly, however, support that expansion. The Assembly is due to pass its version of paid family leave today.
Klein said he wasn’t opposed to more funding for the TDI, but said it should be separate from the paid leave issue.
“That makes it very, very expensive,” he said. “It would cost $900 million if the state paid for it. It would be a much larger burden on not only the employee but the employer. I think we need to separate the two. Get paid family leave done first, but then revisit the TDI which I think is long overdue.”