SEN. FASANO:

Thank you, Mr. President, and I thank Senator Prague for the answers to those questions. Mr. President, I will say that the amendment of this bill that we talked about before, we went from 25 to 50 employees, certainly, it's a great benefit to the bill, based upon the number of jobs that kids rely upon for the summer months.

The purpose of the amendment was to change that, and I think that's a terrific change. I've been toying with whether I'm in favor of this bill or not. I've been going back and forth.

The general principle that the state gets involved with businesses is not something that I particularly embrace. However, I think it is reasonable that an employer give sick days to their employees.

I think that is common courtesy, and it makes sense. However, this bill treads even further, and starts with the municipality and state, which is part of a collective bargaining agreement and union contracts, and they cover that.

I'm not exactly sure why we include that, and I would be more in favor of this bill if that was not included. Obviously, through the questioning, it is. I will also say that I believe mandates on businesses are tough.

I run a small business. I know what it's like. I do, during the summer, have more than 50 employees, closer to 75.

I know that if this bill went through, without that summer provision, this would have been a great hardship for my particular business and force me not to hire as many kids, and close programs down, because it would have been a very expensive proposition for a seasonal enterprise.

Senator Prague's bill does correct that, but that just speaks to one, small business. It doesn't talk to as many businesses that are going to be affected by this.

As I said, the decision becomes crystal clear when we add the municipality issue and the state issue into this bill. Unfortunately, with all due respect to the good intentions of this bill, I will not be able to support it. Thank you, Mr. President.