Connecticut – On Wednesday March 8th, the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA) sponsored a lobbying event that discussed, amongst other issues, a new unemployment compensation bill. The bill proposes that employees would be eligible for 12 weeks paid family leave in a year. This paid leave would be financed by a tax on employee earnings.
The CBIA opposes the family and medical leave measure stating that it would drive up the cost of doing business in the state, while Senator Martin Looney, president pro tem of the Senate, supports the legislation as “essential to the health and well-being” of workers in Connecticut.
Proposed legislation also includes a separate measure that would raise the annual earnings threshold for collecting benefits from $600 currently to $2,000. This measure is receiving wide support from the CBIA and other Connecticut based employers.