PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Rhode Island Senate approved legislation Thursday to hike the state tax that pays temporary disability benefits in order to expand the program to residents caring for a newborn or a sick relative.
Temporary Disability Insurance, or TDI, is a tax on worker pay that allows the state to provide benefits for up to 30 weeks to those suffering a non-work related injury or illness.
State Sen. Gayle Goldin, D-Providence, proposes offering the benefit to those who need to care for a newborn or newly adopted child or a sick relative. She proposes the state initially offer up to four weeks of paid leave and increase that eventually to eight weeks by 2016.
The plan is projected to result in a gradual increase in the TDI tax, which currently equals 1.2 percent on every worker's first $61,400 in earnings.
The non-profit Institute for Women's Policy Research in Washington, D.C., has estimated that the average Rhode Island worker would see seeing their weekly TDI tax increase from $10.26 to about $10.90 in 2014 -- about 64 cents.
In 2015, the weekly tax would increase to about $11.54 and in 2016 it would rise to about $12.19, the organization said.
The state Department of Labor and Training, however, has suggested the tax hike might need to be higher in order to cover the additional beneficiaries.