D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said Monday that some lawmakers are uneasy about the details of legislation that would give city workers 12 weeks of paid family leave and require local businesses to set their employees’ schedules three weeks in advance, explaining why both bills have been removed from the council’s Tuesday agenda.
“There’s a great deal of concern about how the details of the scheduling bill would play out in real life,” Mr. Mendelson said at an unusual press conference Monday at City Hall. He declined to elaborate.
Tuesday marks the last legislative session before the lawmakers take a two-month recess, meaning the council will not consider the bills until September at the earliest.
Business advocacy groups and business owners have criticized the legislation, along with the District’s aim to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020, as shortsighted measures that will drive up costs, drive down profits and drive out companies based in the city.
But religious leaders and advocates for working families are pressuring the council to consider the paid family leave and advanced scheduling bills when the legislative body returns from its summer break.
“Let it be hot in July and August, but let it be hotter coming from us to the council,” the Rev. Graylan Hagler of Plymouth United Church of Christ in Northeast said Monday at a rally of about a few dozen people outside City Hall.
The fates of the two bills are largely unknown.
Mr. Mendelson wouldn’t commit to passing either bill by the end of the year, though he did say he felt confident that the paid leave measure would come to a vote. The earliest either bill could get a first vote would be Sept. 20; legislation requires two votes at least two weeks apart for passage.
Council member David Grosso, who co-wrote the legislation, committed himself Monday to getting the paid family leave bill through the council before the end of the year.
“The working families of the District of Columbia need the security and stability this legislation provides,” said Mr. Grosso, at-large independent. “I’m disappointed that we’re not moving forward; however, I remain committed to the goals of the bill and to enactment by the end of the year.”
He said the paid leave bill would help city workers and be advantageous for local businesses seeking the best hires.
“The Universal Paid Leave Act will support our D.C. workers and families while giving our local businesses a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining highly qualified employees,” he said.
The original family leave bill would have provided D.C. employees with 16 weeks of paid time off depending on income level. A 1 percent payroll tax levied on city businesses would pay for the program. Revenue analysts estimated that the 16-week measure could cost as much as $1 billion to implement.
The 12-week version still would provide the most generous paid family leave in the country.
Mr. Mendelson said council members were working out their concerns about how the scheduling bill would work and how it would affect businesses.
He also said the council is considering the overall effects of paid family leave and advanced scheduling on the business community.
Opponents of the legislation have chalked up the council’s delayed action as a win, saying the bills would devastate the city’s business climate.
“[The] move to pull the predictive scheduling bill from the table is a win for the entire District,” said DC Jobs & Growth Partnership, a business advocacy group.
• Ryan M. McDermott can be reached at rmcdermott@washingtontimes.com.
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