Legislature approves 6 weeks paid parental leave for state employees, none for legislative staff

Three years after Gov. Bill Lee first proposed offering state employees paid parental leave, the legislature has agreed to offer executive and judicial branch employees six weeks of paid leave following the birth or adoption of a child — but no paid parental leave for the legislature's 313 staff members.

During his State of the State address this year, Lee proposed offering 12 weeks of paid leave for state employees as an effort to recruit and retain quality staff.

After approving 12 weeks paid leave last month, consistent with Lee’s proposal, Senators voted 26 to 5 along party lines on Monday evening to cut the amount by half to concur with an amended version of the bill passed by the House. Sponsor Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, said the governor’s office did not oppose halving the benefit.

“We had several of our members that thought that was too much, going from zero to 12 [weeks],” House sponsor Rep. Pat Marsh, R-Shelbyville, said of a House committee’s decision to cut leave time.

As passed Monday evening, Senate Bill 276 will offer employees of the state’s executive and judicial branches six weeks of paid parental leave after the birth or adoption of a child, and none to legislative employees. Employees may take remaining time up to a total of 12 weeks off without pay. Physicians typically recommend postpartum women do not resume running regimens or intense physical exercise until 12 weeks after giving birth.

The bill now goes to Lee's desk. Lee spokesperson Jade Byers told The Tennessean that the governor "looks forward to signing the bill."

"Gov. Lee's proposal is a meaningful step to both support strong families and recruit and retain highly qualified Tennesseans to serve our state," Byers said. "He appreciates the legislature's continued partnership in ensuring Tennessee is a top state to work and raise a family."

Lee pushes 'pro-family' policies

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year, Lee has emphasized his administration’s efforts to expand “pro-family” support for Tennesseans starting and expanding their families. Lee’s office did not respond to inquiries on why the administration supported cutting the proposed 12 weeks of leave by half.

Lee’s office also did not comment on whether the governor plans to propose extending paid leave time in the future, or extending the same benefit to legislative employees.

During the Senate debate, Republicans voted down a proposal by Sen. London Lamar, D-Memphis, to extend the same paid leave benefit to their own legislative staff, citing fiscal concerns. A total of 313 legislative staffers are listed on the General Assembly directory – roughly equivalent to the number of employees in the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office alone.

Lamar argued the legislature could lose employees to other branches of government “because they don’t have the same benefits as everyone else.”

“Your staff members asked me for this. The people that work for you asked me to include them – they didn’t want to be left out,” Lamar said. “Think about the people who come here every day to make sure that you can show up looking good and being able to do your job… Don’t leave them out.”

Throughout debate on the bill, Democrats have supported offering paid leave, but argued that it should be more extensive.

“Most corporations are offering 12 paid weeks to attract new, good employees,” said Rep. Bill Beck, D-Nashville. “Our benefits have slipped behind what the private market is.”

A few Republicans opposed the governor’s bill, including Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, who argued that because small businesses cannot afford to offer employees paid leave, the state should not, either.

“If we are talking about mommas and providing additional support for mommas, I’m all about it. But the reality is for those of us who own a small business — I own a small business with 8 employees – I do not have the luxury of giving men in my company 6 weeks off if their wife has a baby,” Zachary said. “I stand with the thousands of small business owners that do not have the budget or the luxury to be able to give 6 weeks or 12 weeks off. I cannot support using their taxpayer dollars to provide a benefit to state employees that they themselves could not afford.”

Reach Vivian Jones at vjones@tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Legislature approves 6 weeks paid parental leave for state employees, none for legislative staff