Last modified: Tuesday, April 25, 2006 12:15 AM EDT Paid-leave plan will come at a price By Jim Hand/Sun Chronicle Staff Massachusetts Senate President Robert Travaglini is expected to unveil a proposal today that would provide workers with paid family leave. The proposal calls for all workers to be charged a weekly fee of $1.50 to $2.50 that would create a fund to provide for up to 12 weeks of paid leave. The leave could be used for time off to raise a newborn child, adopting a child, care for a sick relative or other family emergencies, according to reports. Federal law currently provides for unpaid family leave. The Travaglini idea caught both Attleboro-area senators by surprise. They said paid family leave had not been a top priority issue. State Sen. James Timilty, D-Walpole, said no constituent has ever raised the issue with him during the many office hours he has held. However, he said he has received a few e-mails in support of the idea since it surfaced Sunday. State Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, said he sometimes thinks legislative leaders sit around a table thinking of new ways to tax residents. `` It's another feel-good thing. Another mandate and fee on our pocketbooks,'' he said. Brown said he would be more supportive of creating personal savings accounts that workers pay into on a voluntary basis and draw on when they take time off from work. Timilty said the concept of paid leave deserves to be studied, but he has not seen any details yet on how the plan would work. He also said the Legislature is busy dealing with the state budget and other issues, so he does not know when it will have time to tackle family leave. He did add, however, that when the senate president takes a personal interest in a bill, it usually moves quickly. California is the only state with paid leave and it provides only 55 percent of a workers salary while they are on leave. The Travaglini proposal would pay 100 percent of a worker's salary up to $750 a week. If passed, the bill would once again put Massachusetts at the forefront on social issues. The Legislature recently passed a health insurance bill that aims to cover almost all citizens within three years. The bill mandates that all workers buy insurance. National experts call it the most sweeping bill of its kind in the United States. Travaglini was expected to disclose details of his family leave plan in a speech today to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.