New Jersey passes family leave bill

TRENTON, N.J., April 8 (UPI) -- New Jersey legislators approved a family paid leave bill Monday, the third state in the nation to do so, a reports said.

The measure was debated for 12 years, the Newark Star-Ledger reported.

The bill allows for six weeks of paid leave when a worker's child is born, half the original proposal. Workers who apply are entitled to two-thirds of their salaries with a maximum payment of $524 a week.

The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and the New Jersey Business and Industry Association stood in opposition to the bill as did a majority of Republican state senators, the report said.

"Legislators and the governor seem to think our residents and employers have deep pockets and unlimited resources," Jim Leonard, senior vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement.

Gov. Jon Corzine, whose three children stayed by his side through an 18-day hospitalization a year ago, has said he will sign the bill.

"I feel actually more strongly in the context of my own experience that people are served well by having their family near them and supportive of them in periods of great stress," Corzine said.

"Emotional strength is just as important as physical strength," he said.