On January 27, Associate Policy Director Karrington Anderson submitted written testimony to the Government, Labor, and Elections Committee in opposition to HB 86 – State and Local Employees – Cancer Screening – Paid Leave.
This bill would mandate that state and local governments, as public employers, provide four hours of paid cancer screening leave, separate from any existing leave policies.
Under current law and county practice, cancer screening is an allowable and appropriate use of accrued sick leave or sick and safe leave. Mandating a separate leave category creates redundancy while imposing new fiscal and operational pressures on local governments. The potential cost impact could be significant, depending on workforce size and wage levels. At a time when counties are managing constrained budgets, adding a duplicative leave requirement diverts limited resources without meaningfully expanding access beyond what is already available to employees.
Counties strongly support policies that promote employee health and
early detection of serious illnesses, including cancer screening. Ensuring employees can access preventive care is a shared priority for local governments. However, this bill would establish a new, stand-alone paid leave entitlement − four hours annually − that is both redundant and administratively burdensome given existing and generous leave options already available to county employees.
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