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BILL: SB 355
DATE: February 05, 2025
POSITION: Support
COMMITTEE: Senate Finance Committee
CONTACT: Mary Pat Fannon, Executive Director, PSSAM
The Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland (PSSAM), on behalf of all twenty-four local school superintendents supports Senate Bill 355.
This bill alters the dates from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2027, and from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2028, on which the payment of contributions and the submission of claims for benefits, respectively, are to begin under the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program.
The Time to Care Act of 2022 established the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) Program and Fund to provide up to 12 weeks of benefits to a covered individual taking leave from employment due to personal and family circumstances. The FAMLI Fund consists of contributions from employees and employers, including Maryland’s 24 local school systems and municipal and county governments. As intended, employers and employees are to begin making payroll contributions to the Department of Labor to generate the FAMLI fund and to support benefits payments beginning in 2026.
The Time to Care Act provided an exemption for employers who satisfy the requirements of law through their employer plan. This exemption provides the opportunity for employers, including public sector employers such as boards of education, counties, and municipal governments, to receive departmental approval to establish employer provider benefits plans.
PSSAM supports the efforts of the bill to adjust the timeline of the FAMLI Program to ensure that State and employers are granted more time and are better equipped to implement and manage the benefit.
For these reasons, PSSAM supports Senate Bill 355 and kindly requests a favorable report.
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