The Connecticut House of Representatives debated late into Friday night as members considered a bill that would make Connecticut the nation’s first state to mandate that some employers provide paid sick days to employees.
The State Senate approved the bill on May 25 in an 18-to-17 vote, with one Republican voting in favor and five Democrats opposed.
The House has 52 Republicans and 99 Democrats. None of the Republicans are considered likely to approve the measure, but party officials concede that getting enough Democratic votes to kill it would be a challenge. The Republicans on Friday had drawn up about 100 amendments and were promising a contentious and protracted debate.
The issue is being closely followed nationally, as liberal groups have presented similar legislation in other states and cities. The bill would require only service companies with 50 or more workers to provide paid sick days.
The measure was significantly toned down from earlier versions, but opponents raised the same objections, that the bill was antibusiness and counterproductive at a time of high unemployment and low job creation in a state that has consistently lagged behind the nation in creating jobs. Proponents said it offered major and overdue protections for workers and for the public health, particularly at a time when workers’ rights were under attack.
Manufacturing companies and nationally chartered nonprofit organizations would be exempt. The bill would not cover day laborers or temporary workers. It would apply only to service workers, a broad category that includes waiters, cashiers, crossing guards and hairstylists. The proposal would allow each covered employee to earn one hour of paid sick time for every 40 hours worked, with the number of days capped at five a year.
The legislation has been a major priority for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who lobbied wavering senators to support the bill. He has pledged to sign the bill if it reaches his desk. Mr. Malloy, who is in his first term, made the issue an important part of his platform during his campaign against Ned Lamont in the Democratic primary last year.
“This piece of legislation is a reasonable compromise that represents good public policy,” he said in a statement after the Senate passed it. “It exempts industries where appropriate, it ensures that the benefit won’t be abused, and most importantly, it protects public health. It shouldn’t be the case that people who are frontline service workers — people who serve us food, who care for our children and who work in hospitals, for example — are forced to go to work sick to keep their jobs.”
But Republicans said the bill was onerous and ill timed. They said that it would put an excessive burden on companies that had to provide paid sick days and that its language provided a broad cause of action for any employees who claimed their employment was unfairly affected by using paid sick days.
The Senate Republican leader, John McKinney, said the bill would give other states one more argument in competing for companies and jobs, but he seemed resigned to House passage.
Assuming it passes, he said, “by being the first state in the nation to pass a paid sick leave mandate, Connecticut has further cemented its reputation as being an unfriendly place to do business.”