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Statement

Moms Leader Praises Maryland House of Delegates Vote to Override Governor Hogan’s Veto of Paid Sick Days Bill

January 11, 2018
Paid Sick Days, Workplace Justice

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

Statement from Ruth Martin, Vice President, Workplace Justice Campaigns of MomsRising.org, a national online and on-the-ground organization of more than 30,000 Maryland members and more than 1 million mothers and their families across the country, on the Maryland House of Delegates vote to override Gov. Hogan’s veto of HB1
“The Maryland House of Delegates voted today to overturn Governor Larry Hogan’s ill-conceived, outrageous veto of HB1, bringing the state one step closer to enacting earned sick leave law that will benefit families, workers, and the state’s economy.
 
“The Healthy Working Families Act, which both houses of the state legislature passed last year, will bring financial stability and peace of mind to hundreds of thousands of Maryland families. Right now, more than 700,000 working people across the state do not have earned sick leave they can use to care for themselves or their children when they get sick. This means working Marylanders often must make impossible choices between going to work sick – or sending a sick child to school – and forfeiting a much-needed paycheck. As is often the case, people of color, and particularly moms of color, are hit hardest by the state’s failure to ensure that all workers can earn paid sick days.
 
“Simply put, Marylanders need earned sick leave, and they need it now. It’s past time for this bill to become law.
 
“For the last few years, MomsRising members and their children have visited state legislators in superhero capes, urging representatives to use their legislative superpowers to vote for earned sick days. We have also been a proud member of the Working Matters Coalition, which has fought tirelessly to enact this law for five years. It’s thanks to the coalition’s leadership that we are now on the cusp of seeing earned sick days become law. We thank every delegate who voted in favor of HB1, and urge State Senators to follow the House’s lead and finally make paid sick days a reality for Maryland workers.”
 

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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.