Paid family leave proposal: Vital safety net or massive tax increase?

(The Center Square) – To convince colleagues that Pennsylvania workers need access to paid family and medical leave, state Rep. Jennifer O’Mara used facts from her own life: her father died young, she has two kids, and her veteran husband was wounded in combat.

Those circumstances can disrupt family income, said O’Mara. A Democrat from Delaware County who as a rank-and-file lawmaker makes more than $113,000 a year, she acknowledged during floor debate on March 25 that she was “really fortunate in the position that I have” but it was “our responsibility to deliver” the bill for those less fortunate.

Moments later, her bill setting up a new paid leave program passed – but not before a strong statement about the source of the money.

A “$4.5 billion tax increase on Pennsylvania’s small businesses,” is how Republican Rep. Aaron Bernstine of Lawrence County described the O’Mara bill. Those businesses, he said, are “struggling to ma...