CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - The New Hampshire House has given final approval to a bill establishing paid family and medical leave, rejecting an attempt to change it from a state-run program to one having employers provide private insurance.
Legislators on Thursday passed the plan 171-162. It now goes to the Senate.
The bill would be paid for via a voluntary contribution from employees equal to two-thirds of a percent of their wages. Participants would be eligible for 60 percent of their pay during time taken of for the birth, adoption or fostering of a child, a serious illness not related to employment or the serious illness of a spouse or certain other relatives.
Supporters said the program’s essential to strengthening the state’s workforce, caring for an aging population and supporting recovery from the opioid epidemic.
Opponents fear it’s unsustainable.
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