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The Paid Family and Medical Leave bill passed the House Judiciary Committee along party lines in an 8 to 2 vote Saturday.
HB 38, sponsored by House Representatives Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos and Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque, was amended by committee to clean up some of the language. The amendment also exempted railroad employees because of a federal law and inserted language that would prevent counties and municipalities from enacting their own paid family and medical leave ordinances, Chandler said.
Chandler said she had many meetings with the business community and chambers of commerce to understand their concerns about the bill and the amendment reflected those conversations. Despite that, many business groups spoke in opposition to the bill during public comment.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Michael Marti and several co-workers in his Albuquerque office all received notice from the state that they were eligible for unemployment benefits.
However, all of them were fully employed at a local insurance agency and had never filed claims.
Not long ago, a Chama woman also received a letter from the state Department of Workforce Solutions, telling her she could start collecting her unemployment. Problem: She’s a former teacher who retired years ago, hadn’t applied and wasn’t eligible.
All are part of a nationwide boom in unemployment insurance fraud in the wake of enhanced pandemic-related assistance. As much as $26 billion in unemployment benefits already has been obtained through fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Labor inspector general.
About 100,000 New Mexicans are receiving unemployment benefits right now. Many of those people lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and some of those jobs
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