The Republican-only state Senate unanimously approved a measure today that boosters say would prevent a patchwork of paid sick day ordinances or similar local laws throughout the state.
The measure stems from voter passage in Milwaukee of an ordinance backed by the group 9to5. After the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce filed suit to stop it, a Milwaukee Co. circuit judge ruled it unconstitutional. That ruling is being appealed by 9to5. The measure would have mandated the private sector to provide paid sick leave.
MMAC’s Steve Baas said the measure would ensure that sick and family leaves are a matter of statewide concern.
He said the measure looks forward. “We want to avoid high-cost job islands” in the state and create “a consistent, competitive landscape statewide to compete for jobs and development,” Baas said.
The bill analysis says: “This bill states that the provision of family and medical leave that is uniform throughout the state is a matter of statewide concern and that it would be logically inconsistent with, would defeat the purpose of, and would go against the spirit of the state family and medical leave law for a city, village, town, or county to enact an ordinance that requires employers to provide employees with leave from employment” for various reasons.
*See the bill analysis and language:http://legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/data/SB-23.pdf.
– WisPolitics.com
