Although it passed and Mayor Muriel Bowser let it become law without her signature almost one year ago, the DC Universal Paid Leave Act (UPLA) was back before the body this week. The council Tuesday took testimony on 5 different proposals to amend the mandate in some shape, manner or form. Primary among the proposals is a hybrid of sorts that would allow smaller businesses (those with less than 25 employees) to decide whether to opt-in to the UPLA or not and also allow owners to self-administer the benefits, while others up for consideration are as diverse as to require employers to obtain paid leave compensation insurance and to divide the .62 percent payroll tax between the employer and the employees, and everything in between. Notwithstanding the vast differences between the 5 competing proposals, the Council claims to be open to other ideas and will accept written testimony through October 24.