Second part of Gov. Kristi Noem's paid family leave program fails in committee

PIERRE — A bill that would have provided a $20 million grant incentive for small businesses to buy into the state's paid family leave program failed 4-2 in a Senate committee Wednesday.

The bill, SB 154, would have allotted $5 million in rebates across four years to private employers, who could apply for the grants in to afford a paid family leave insurance program for their own business. After four years, the business would be on the hook to pay for the program. It's the second part in Gov. Kristi Noem's proposed paid family leave initiative to make South Dakota a leader in the pro-life movement.

"The future of the pro-life movement lies in initiatives like this taking care of mothers and babies before birth and after," Rachel Oglesby, Noem's chief of policy, said.

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The main portion of the paid family leave program would extend 100% paid leave to state employees through an insurance policy with private South Dakotan businesses being able to buy into the insurance policy. Businesses would then work with the insurer to create the paid leave program that works best for them.

The leave could include parents taking time off to be with a newborn child or adopted child, helping care for a sick family member, or issues arising from when one's spouse is on active duty.

However, Sen. Michael Rohl, R-Aberdeen, questioned the incentive program and if "mom and pop" businesses would have the chance to apply for the grants since the program was based on a first-come, first-serve basis.

"I'm worried what's going to end up happening is the companies that have an HR staff or they're able to pay people to essentially fill [the grant] out, it's gonna be able to benefit them and not the actual mom and pop, because I think by the time they figured this out, I think that might be is going to be gone," Rohl said.

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He added fundamentally, he couldn't support tax payer dollars being used for a private business.

Sen. Sydney Davis, R-Burbank, was concerned about the longevity of the four-year grant program, but encouraged the conversation about paid family leave incentives to continue.

Sen. Tim Reed, R-Brookings, who had sponsored the bill asked the committee to resist killing it. In his testimony, he said currently employers are looking for a paid family leave option.

"I'm just afraid that we're going to end up losing even more of our workforce," he said.

The paid family leave program will be heard in the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Second part of Noem's paid family leave program fails in committee