When you’re on a roll . . . and apparently New Jersey believes it is as last week the Senate Committee on Labor advanced an expansion to the new paid family leave bill. If passed, the measure would broaden the existing leave program by boosting the paid leave benefit to 12 weeks (from the current 6 weeks) and increasing the pay that workers would receive during their absence to 90% of their salary – up from the present law’s 67% cap. Further, the new payment would be capped at 100 percent of the state’s weekly average weekly wage of $1195, effectively almost doubling the amount a worker on family leave could take home weekly – the current cap is set at $631 per week. Down in the Nation’s Capital, the city council has been promising for over a year that it would revisit the DC paid family leave ordinance and consider changes to improve the mandate. Well, changes to the ordinance (passed in December 2016) won’t be entertained anytime soon according to council Chairman Phil Mendelson. The councilor, who spearheaded adoption of the paid sick leave ordinance, announced during a recent debate with his primary challenger that he would not pursue any changes at this time. The DC paid leave benefit is funded through a 0.62% payroll tax on all employees effective July 1, 2019.