The Minnesota House and Senate have just passed one of the most extreme paid family leave programs in the nation. This proposal would impose a .7% tax on businesses, which would fund a statewide pool to pay for up to a whopping 20 weeks of time off of work.

At least half of the tax must be paid for by the employer, while the remainder can be paid for by the employee. This will hit small businesses the hardest, which cannot afford to lose an employee for 40% of the year. Big businesses like Target already have a paid family leave program in place, which lets them be exempt from this program.

Under this Paid Family Leave proposal, employees qualify if they have a “serious health condition,” which includes:

• Mental illness
• Injury
• Impairment
• “Conditions”
• Substance use disorders

Washington State has a similar program, which began in 2020. They cap their time off at 12 weeks, instead of Minnesota’s 20. Three years later, they had to raise their payroll tax from .6% to .8% to cover the program. There’s no doubt Minnesota will follow a similar path.

Minnesota is already hostile to small business, and this program could be the final nail in the coffin. Why would anyone live here when they could do their business in South Dakota, Iowa, or Wisconsin?

Thankfully, there is time to stop this madness. The program will not be implemented until 2026, which gives Minnesotans time to call their legislators – demanding they put a stop to this. If they won’t listen, Minnesotans have an opportunity to vote for more sane legislators in 2024.

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