Rep. Stripp Condemms Sick Leave Proposal-Small Businesses Say Bill Will Kill Jobs

HARTFORD – Rep. John Stripp and the rest of the House Republican leadership assailed the supermajority Democrats for trying to impose a job-killing mandatory sick leave proposal on all businesses today, one day after Democrats staged an elaborate press conference claiming job growth is their signature issue this legislative session.

Connecticut would become the first state in the country to require all companies to provide mandatory sick leave for part-time and full-time employees. The Democrats picked the annual Business Day at the Capitol to roll out their sick leave plan – a clear sign that the majority party relishes its anti-private sector stature in the legislature, Republicans charged.

“The Democrats claim they want to create job growth back in their home districts because 90,000 Connecticut people have lost their jobs in this recession. They then roll out a mandatory sick leave bill in Hartford that they know companies across the state vehemently oppose,” said Rep. Stripp, a member of the legislature’s Commerce Committee which is the committee charged with bring business to Connecticut.

“How in good conscious can this proposal be the way to keep jobs in Connecticut. This plan will further hinder any job expansion by prospective employers, its time to incentivize not punish job creators,” added Rep. Stripp.

The bill that will be raised in the Labor and Public Employees Committee Thursday requires that any employee who logs at least 520 hours of work a year receive seven paid sick leave days.

Only two places in the country, San Francisco and Washington D.C., require companies to provide paid sick leave.

The bill would apply to businesses that employ 60 people or more. Republicans were joined at a Capitol press conference by business owners, one of whom said his company has 48 employees. The owners said they would not be inclined to add more payroll if that mean their costs of doing business went up.