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CT Paid Family & Medical Leave program reaches $1 billion in benefits

Governor Ned Lamont.
Molly Ingram
/
WSHU
Governor Ned Lamont.

Connecticut’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program has paid out a billion dollars in benefits in the three years since it was launched. That’s a major milestone, officials said.

It’s a huge success for a state program that opponents had criticized would soon be insolvent and a burden on taxpayers, Governor Ned Lamont said as he made the announcement in Hartford on Thursday.

“We were into a lot of naysayers when this was being considered early on,” he said. “And the government is never going to get it right and it's going to be insolvent by the end of the year. And well, this is a billion dollars of benefits, and we are very solvent.”

“The other thing they said was, 'Oh, it’s going to kill jobs, and this is more of a burden,'" he said.

“Nonsense,” said the governor. “We’ve created more jobs and more business startups. And I’d like to think that Paid Family and Medical Leave is one of the reasons that people love Connecticut,” he declared.

The program helps workers and small business owners who’ve enrolled with benefits needed to take time off work to care for their own health, a newborn child, or a sick family member.

Eligible workers can receive up to 12 weeks of income replacement.

According to Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewiecz, about 140,000 people have received the benefit since its launch on Jan, 1, 2022.

Erin Choquette, CEO of the Connecticut Paid Leave Authority, said the fund pays out about $8 million a week and has a current reserve of $559 million.

The money is raised through yearlong worker payroll deductions.

As WSHU Public Radio’s award-winning senior political reporter, Ebong Udoma draws on his extensive tenure to delve deep into state politics during a major election year.