A miniature Maryland flag stands on the desk of a member of Maryland's House of Delegates. (2015 photo by Patrick Semansky/AP)
The Maryland House on Wednesday gave final legislative approval to a paid-sick-leave bill, with enough support to override a promised veto by Gov. Larry Hogan (R).
The bill also passed the Senate with a veto-proof majority, ensuring that Maryland is on target to become the eighth state to require employers to provide paid sick leave.
Liz Richards, the executive director of the Working Matters Coalition, described the bill as a “fair and reasonable solution to a very serious problem.”
She and other advocates who have pushed for the benefit for the past five years urged the governor to change his mind and sign the measure. If Hogan vetoes the bill, lawmakers will not have an opportunity to override the veto until next year’s legislative session, meaning the bill would not take effect until 2018.
Hogan proposed a paid-sick-leave bill that required the benefit only for companies with at least 50 workers and made tax incentives available for smaller companies that offered paid sick leave.
That measure never moved out of committee.
The bill passed by the General Assembly requires employers with 15 or more workers to provide five days of paid sick leave. It does not offer tax incentives to help offset the cost.
The House agreed to accept a change in the legislation made in the Senate that cut the number of sick days per year that employers must offer from seven to five.
Arizona, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, Vermont and Washington state have laws in place requiring employers to offer paid sick leave, along with the District of Columbia, Montgomery County in Maryland and several other localities across the country.