A pair of bills aimed at addressing paid family leave in South Dakota both failed in the legislature.
Gov. Kristi Noem backed SB 154 and HB 1151 this legislative session. The bills attempted to offer further paid family leave to state workers and allow private businesses to buy in.
The first bill to die in committee was SB 154. The bill was designed to offer $20 million in state grant funding for businesses to join a family leave insurance plan.
Grants were designed on a first-come, first-serve basis and would have been limited to $5 million per year for four years.
HB 1151 was the second part of Noem’s family leave plan. It would have extended current state employee benefits.
Currently, state employees are offered 60% of their pay over an eight-week period. HB 1151 intended to extend these benefits to 80% of pay over a 12-week period.
Rachel Oglesby is the Chief of Policy in the governor’s office. She said Noem’s proposed family leave bills are based off a similar program already in place in New Hampshire.
“With HB 1151 we can both expand the benefits offered to state employees and create a new affordable option for private businesses and public sector entities to offer this benefit to their employees as well,” said Oglesby.
Opponents of the bill praised the governor’s office for their idea but had fundamental issues with how the bills were drafted.
Rep. Linda Duba brought forward the motion to defer HB 1151 to the 41st legislative day in the House Appropriations Committee Thursday. She said she is surprised the governor’s office did not contact South Dakota based businesses on the proposed bill.
“Family leave is important, and I don’t want to diminish that being the mother of three children who are now adults, and someday they may need that benefit as well. I just don’t feel that this mechanism is in the right direction. And the fact that we didn’t work with any of the small business or medium size businesses in this state, and really the New Hampshire plan is much different than what we are proposing here, so in that regard, that’s why I brought the motion,” said Duba.
Both bills were defeated, but left legislators discussing the need for a better family leave bill in the future.
