Lawmakers advance bill to tweak Maine's paid family and medical leave law

A bill to tweak Maine's new paid family and medical leave law is advancing in the Legislature.

Starting next year, many employers across Maine will be required to start offering employees up to 12 weeks of paid time off to care for themselves or a sick family member or to bond with a newborn. Workers and employers began paying into a state-managed fund for the program in January. But some business groups continue to raise concerns that offering up to 12 weeks of paid leave could worsen staffing challenges.

Democrats in the Maine House and Senate have rejected several Republican-sponsored bills to roll back or scrap the program altogether. And on Monday, the Senate voted 20-14 along party lines to advance a bill that would make some technical changes to the law while clarifying other