Ray Stever

When the state Senate pasAFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanechsed paid family leave today by a vote of 22-16, AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech admitted he felt a particular sense of satisfaction after a hard, 12-year trudge.

"We're exhausted, but we're very happy," said Wowkanech, whose outfit numbers 1 million strong in New Jersey, and who remembers first trying to float the idea of paid family leave over a decade ago.

What the Senate passed today was a bill that enables employees to pay into a fund that would allow them to receive compensation while taking up to six weeks off from work to care for their own health or the health of a relative. According to the bill, "an amount not to exceed $25 million may be transferred from the state's temporary disability fund to the new account to support start-up costs." The program is designed to run on the monies employees pay into the funds, which amounts to about $33 apiece annually.

Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo, one of the sponsors of the Assembly version of paid family leave, which came out of committee today. 

The lobbyists' feeding frenzy continued in Trenton today as representatives from both the business and labor communities zeroed in on lawmakers in the hallways of power and attempted to elicit the promise of a yes or no vote on the issue of paid family leave.

The measure would extend state liability insurance to employees for up to six weeks, enabling workers to care for themselves, a newborn or a sick relative. Funding would come from the workers contributing on average a dollar a week from their salaries.

A pair of old antagonists, labor and business, are waging a battle in Trenton this week as the former works the legislature to pass paid family leave, while the latter hopes lawmakers scrap it completely.

State Sen. Joseph Coniglio, the target of a federal corruption probe, dropped his bid for re-election on Wednesday

Conventional wisdom says the 38th should stay in the Democratic Party column as long as the party props up a warm, scandal-free body in the 2-1 Democratic district, but the replacement for Sen. Joseph Coniglio will likely have ironclad labor ties, which are important up here in Coniglio country.

It’s hard to imagine anyone more ironclad than the plumber turned senator, who announced Wednesday that he would not pursue re-election this November. Having him in Trenton was big for the AFL-CIO, one million members strong in New Jersey, which found a champ from among their own, according to organization President Charles Wowkanech.