It was one of the last big pushes for a piece of legislation that will mandate private employers to allow their employees to earn paid sick time.
The Connecticut Working Families Party, the main proponents of the legislation, was talking to lawmakers outside the House chamber Wednesday evening trying to get their support, but the bill’s first and most difficult hurdle will be in the Senate where the vote count is razor thin.
Sen. Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, was cornered by a group of Working Family Party members Wednesday who were trying to convince him the bill wouldn’t harm Connecticut’s business environment.
“If paid sick days passes, Connecticut will be the only state in the country to pass such a piece of legislation and what kind of message does that send?” McKinney said. “It says Connecticut is not open to business.”
He said there’s nothing the group could have said that would have convinced him to vote for the legislation, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t enjoy the conversation.
McKinney said he can’t support the legislation because something like 86 percent of businesses with 50 or more employees already offer paid sick leave and those that don’t can’t afford to. Mandating companies with 50 or more employees “would make Connecticut much less business friendly,” said McKinney.
Kia Murrell, assistant counsel at the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, said there‘s rumors the bill could come up for a vote in the Senate as early as this week, but she thinks there‘s sufficient opposition to the legislation.
“I think the votes we have aren‘t going to change,” Murrell said Wednesday.
Even if there are amendments to change the types of businesses the bill applies to Murrell said she‘s confident Senators opposed will remain opposed. She said any amendment to the legislation is “smoke and mirrors,” because if the bill is limited to certain industries then it comes at an expense to those advocates say need it most.
She said a lot of the businesses with low wage earners can’t afford to offer paid sick leave benefits and even if they were they can’t afford to pass them along to their customers because they’d lose their competitive edge.
Jon Green, executive director of the Working Families Party, acknowledged that his group is looking to amend the legislation and perhaps woo a few more lawmakers by limiting it to service employees such as waitresses, chefs, bus drivers and health care workers who deal directly with the public.
“Unlimited breadsticks but no paid sick days,” Green said. The saying is a reference to the Olive Garden where the group hosted a protest last week.
Green said amending the legislation to include only service workers goes to the heart of the issue, which is making sure disease doesn’t spread. He also said it helps make sure low wage workers that get no other benefits are able to choose to stay home, instead of come to work sick and spread their illness to others because they can’t afford to miss a paycheck.
Since the amended version will only impact the service industry, which is not competing across state lines in many cases, there won’t be any economic impact, Green said.
As he’s traveled the state explaining the legislation Green’s learned there are many misconceptions. At a recent visit to a small manufacturing company Green asked what benefits they currently offer their employees. When the company told him it included paid vacation and paid sick time he explained to them that the legislation wouldn’t apply to them. But he said it wasn’t until the third time he said it that it began to sink in.
He said that’s when he realized instead of having to explain this to hundreds of companies across the state, it may just be simpler to amend the legislation.
Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!
But with slimmer margins in the Senate than previous years both Green and Murrell agree the vote is close.
There are anywhere from seven Democratic Senators possibly voting against the measure and with only two Republicans voting in favor of it the vote tally is within one vote of a tie. A tie vote would need to be broken by Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman who is in favor of the legislation.
Click here for our previous coverage of the issue this session.
More Health Care News & Analysis

6 Common Barriers Men Face When Seeking Mental Health Support
The outward effects of mental illness can often be dismissed as a sign of weakness or personal failure. For men, this type of social stereotyping can be especially hard to escape — being told to “man up” is a common refrain that can be reductive and stigmatizing.
Keep readingMedical Examining Board Fines Doctor $10,000
The state Medical Examining Board on Tuesday fined an Oxford doctor $10,000 for fraudulently using another doctor’s name and Drug Enforcement Agency registration number to prescribe controlled substances to a family member.
Keep reading
Clinical Trials With Immunotherapy Drugs Are Source Of Hope And Challenges In Treating Aggressive Breast Cancer
Joshalyn Mills of Branford and Nancy Witz of Kensington had the best possible results after being treated in clinical trials with immunotherapy drugs for aggressive breast cancer: Their tumors were eliminated. But while there are dramatic successes with immunotherapy drugs, there are also many failures, and researchers are trying to find out why in hopes…
Keep reading
Coalition of Health Insurers Questions Viability of Connecticut Partnership Plan
Members of Connecticut’s Health Care Future, a coalition of health insurers, hospitals, and businesses, are questioning whether Connecticut lawmakers have done enough this year to protect teachers and municipal employees from increases in health insurance premiums. “Despite repeated bailouts from taxpayers, the Connecticut Partnership Plan continues to be a fiscal Titanic that demonstrates why government-controlled health…
Keep reading
AG’s Tackle Mental Health Parity
Attorneys General in Connecticut and Rhode Island threw their support Monday behind a coalition of mental health advocacy groups asking a federal appeals court to revisit a recent ruling giving insurance companies more flexibility to deny mental health claims.
Keep reading
Budget Green Lights Psychedelic Therapies
Buried in the budget Gov. Ned Lamont signed this week is a provision that would create a pilot program to allow Connecticut to be the first-in-the-nation to study the impact of psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and MDMA on patients with depression and PTSD. The budget now creates a pilot program within the Department of Mental…
Keep readingMore Labor News

Lamont Inks New Employment Law Backed By Unions
In a victory for state labor unions, Gov. Ned Lamont ignored a lobbying effort by business organizations and signed a bill Tuesday prohibiting employers from holding “captive audience” meetings to potentially discourage workers from unionizing.
Keep reading
States With The Largest Unionized Workforces
Where does Connecticut stand in the list of states with the most unionized employees?
Keep reading
Business Leaders Make Push To Veto Captive Audience Bill
Connecticut business leaders are leaning on Gov. Ned Lamont to veto a bill that would restrict what employers can say in the workplace. The bill, which has been a priority of labor unions for years, is being described by business owners as an unconstitutional attempt to restrict workplace communications and an infringement on employer free…
Keep reading
ANALYSIS | It’s A Wrap: The Winners and Losers of the 2022 Session
It was a short legislative session, but the House and the Senate were able to move a lot of business this year, including the passage of a $24-billion budget with around $600 million in tax cuts.
Keep reading
‘Captive Audience’ Bill Headed To Governor’s Desk
Legislation prohibiting Connecticut employers from holding “captive audience” meetings to discourage workers from organizing received final approval in the House late Friday despite Republican arguments it was preempted by federal law. The bill passed in a 88 to 56 vote, generally along party lines. Eight Democrats joined all but one Republican in voting against it.…
Keep reading
Health Care Workers Call for New Hires
After a record number of health care workers are expected to retire this year, health care staff called on Gov. Ned Lamont to commit to filling 1,000 vacant positions by August 1 of this year. A record 1,137 state workers who notified the state that they will retire this year comes at a moment of…
Keep reading