Maryland Gov. Hogan vetoes paid sick leave bill

Maryland Gov. Hogan vetoes paid sick leave bill

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has vetoed the paid sick leave bill passed by both houses of the General Assembly. At this point, itês not clear that the legislature will override the veto in the new session that starts in January, even though the bill passed both houses by a veto-proof margin.

The Senate vote left no room to spare, with 29 Senators voting for the bill, the minimum needed for override. Hogan said he will work hard between now and January to persuade members of the legislature to pass a scaled-back version instead.

The vetoed bill would require all businesses with 15 or more employees to provide up to five days of paid sick leave. Smaller businesses would be required to offer unpaid leave. The governor had introduced his own bill that would use tax incentives to persuade businesses to offer paid leave, but it never got out of committee.

Gov. Hogan said he still wants to see some form of sick leave. He signed an executive order creating a study of all aspects of the sick leave issue.

If Maryland requires businesses to offer paid sick leave, it would be only the eighth state (including DC) to do so.