Senate will NOT vote on Paid Family Leave Monday

by: Jason Springer

Fri Mar 14, 2008 at 04:48:45 PM EDT

"Following the advice that Legislative Counsel under the Office of Legislative Services gave to both houses, the Assembly took the step Thursday of substituting A-873 for S-786 since the state constitution requires all bills related to revenues to originate in the General Assembly.

"Subsequent to the initial guidance given by OLS, a different opinion has been offered to the minority party ? adding procedural uncertainty to the situation.

"While we steadfastly believe in the validity of our actions - based on the initial advice of OLS - we will err of the side of caution. We have respectfully asked the Senate President not to put the  paid family leave bill before the Senate for a final vote on Monday.

"This bill is simply too important to be jeopardized by legal confusion.

"New Jersey will offer all workers a paid benefit so they can deal with pressing family matters without fear of financial ruin. All the last-minute GOP parliamentary games in the world will only put the inevitable off to another day."