Task Force Begins Analysis of Colorado Paid Family and Medical Leave Program
A thirteen-member task force appointed by Colorado’s Governor and legislative leaders has begun efforts to study the implementation of a paid family and medical leave program in Colorado.FN1 Stacey Campbell of Campbell Litigation sits on the Family and Medical Leave Task Force and will serve as Vice-Chair.
For years, Democratic lawmakers in Colorado have tried to implement a comprehensive paid family and medical leave program similar to those in several other states and in Washington, D.C.FN2 At the close of the 2019 legislative session, lawmakers passed a paid family-and-medical leave (“FAMLI”) study bill requiring an appointed task force to analyze the costs and administration of a paid leave program for all employees in Colorado, take public comments, and make a final recommendation for a FAMLI program by the start of the 2020 legislative session.FN3
Given the current makeup of the Colorado legislature and the importance of a paid leave bill to Democratic lawmakers, we fully expect the FAMLI bill will pass in 2020. The task force will play a key role in shaping such a bill, and employers are encouraged to submit public comments when the comment period opens. The Rocky Mountain Employer will keep you posted.
Footnotes:
FN1: Ed Sealover, Revealed: Here’s Who Will Shape the Direction of Colorado’s Family and Medical Leave System, Denver Business Journal (Jul. 3, 2019), https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2019/07/03/colorado-family-medical-leave-task-force-members.html
FN2: Currently, California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington State, and Massachusetts have paid family and medical leave insurance laws. See http://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/resources/workplace/paid-leave/state-paid-family-leave-laws.pdf (describing laws); Emily Peck, Oregon Just Passed the Best Family Leave Law in the U.S., HuffPost (Jul. 1, 2019), https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oregon-family-leave-law_n_5d1a372ae4b03d61163fd239.
FN3: Colorado SB 19-188, see https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2019a_188_signed.pdf