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Statement

So-Called Paid Leave Bill, Introduced Today, Is a Loan, Not Leave, and a Step in the Wrong Direction.

December 4, 2019
Paid Family & Medical Leave, Federal Budget

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

Statement of Ruth Martin, vice president, workplace justice campaigns at MomsRising, an online and on-the-ground organization of more than one million mothers and their families, on the Advancing Support for Working Families Act, introduced in the U.S. House and Senate today:

“The legislation U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Reps. Colin Allred (D-Texas) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) introduced today is not a paid leave bill, not a meaningful boost for low-income families, and not the solution our country urgently needs. It is, instead, a fatally flawed attempt to fool people by offering families a loan now that brings stark penalties later. It offers an impossible trade-off no family should have to make -- borrowing against their child’s future in order to care for her or him in the present.

“Let’s be clear: The Advancing Support for Working Families Act is a loan, not leave. Allowing families that have new babies to take a lump sum loan of up to $5,000 that they would have to repay over the next decade is absurd. This bill provides no net financial help for families; no paid time off; no job protection; no paid leave to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, partner, parent or sibling; no paid leave to recover from serious illness or injury; and no paid leave to care for or bond with a newborn, newly adopted or foster child. Three in four workers in this country who take leave do so to address their own serious medical conditions or those of family members and this bill would do nothing whatsoever to support them.

"Real problems demand real solutions. America urgently needs a comprehensive paid family and medical leave program that allows all workers to care for their families without risking their jobs or financial security. The FAMILY (Family And Medical Insurance Leave) Act is the only bipartisan paid leave proposal in Congress right now that would cover all workers, address the range of caregiving needs families face, and be affordable for taxpayers and businesses alike. It would improve public health, boost moms and all family caregivers, make our workplaces more equitable, and strengthen our nation’s economy.

“In addition, if our elected leaders want to expand and improve the Child Tax Credit (CTC), they should pass the Working Families Tax Relief Act, which would put money into the pockets of working families. Expanding the CTC to lower income families and giving a young child bonus are the exact type of tax policies that are smart for our economy, endorsed by real moms, and don’t require a payback. The FAMILY Act and Working Families Tax Relief Act are pro-family, pro-work, economy-boosting policies that are also gimmick-free.”

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.