(Photo by javajanie)

D.C. passed a landmark law to guarantee paid family and medical leave today by an 9-4 vote, while a last-minute effort to revise the system of paying for and administering it failed.

The mayor spoke out against the legislation, but stopping short of saying that she would veto it; the bill could pass without her signature. “I predict the Council will need to revisit this legislation and address the detrimental impacts on District residents and small businesses,” Bowser said in a statement. “I will not add my name to this legislation.”

The Council voted for the “Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act of 2016″ on first reading earlier this month to entitle nearly all D.C. workers to eight weeks of parental leave, six weeks to care for an ailing family member, and two weeks in the event of a personal illness. The city’s 13 legislators have all said they are in favor of enacting paid leave, but there was vigorous last-minute debate over exactly how to approach it.

Under the system that passed, which was the subject of three hearings and a year of debate, leave would be funded by a payroll tax—0.62 percent, which would raise $246 million a year. When employees take leave, their pay would come from the citywide pool that is administered by the government.

Critical of raising taxes and creating a huge new city agency, Councilmembers Jack Evans and Mary Cheh proposed an alternative and lobbied their colleagues in the days ahead of the final vote. The employer mandate would have required businesses to require the same amount of leave, but self-administered; smaller businesses would get tax credits and hardship exemptions to help afford it. The proposal would have cost about one-fifth the plan that was enacted, but it wasn’t clear how it would be funded.

The employer mandate proposal fell two shy of the majority needed to pass, with Ward 4’s Brandon Todd, Ward 7’s Yvette Alexander, and Ward 8’s LaRuby May—all close allies of Mayor Muriel Bowser—joining Cheh and Evans in voting for it.

The final vote fell on the same lines, with the exception of Cheh. “I’m going to vote for the one left standing despite the fact that I think it’s ill considered,” she said. “Nevertheless I also feel even more strongly that we need a path to get people paid leave and if this is the only path left open to me, I’m going to take it.”

Labor advocates, who have been lobbying the Council for months, cheered the vote. “This is a victory for all working people in D.C. who will no longer have to choose between their jobs and taking care of their families,” said Jaime Contreras, the vice president of 32BJ SEIU, a union that represents 17,000 property service workers.

The city will join California, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and New York in enacting paid family and medical leave, though the systems, wage repayment structure, and time offered all vary.

The legislation is now in Bowser’s hands. The mayor has repeatedly said she doesn’t believe the original proposal is in the “best interest of D.C. taxpayers and families,” though she was supportive of the employer mandate version.

After staying largely silent on the issue, the mayor announced today that she won’t sign the bill, but it remains unclear if she plans to let it pass without her signature or if she will issue a veto. Two-thirds of the Council, or nine votes, would be needed to override her veto—the exact number that voted for the bill today.

“What’s lost in this debate is that you have a legislature working really hard—whether you support one version or the other—you have a legislature working extremely hard to establish a system of paid leave and I think this is worth taking some time to note,” said Ward 5’s Kenyan McDuffie.

This story has been updated with a statement from the mayor.