Skip to main content
Statement

With a Stroke of the Pen … Gov. Baker Brings Paid Family and Medical Leave to Massachusetts

June 28, 2018
Workplace Justice, Paid Family & Medical Leave

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

Statement from Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, executive director and CEO of MomsRising, a national online and on-the-ground organization of more than 1 million mothers and their families nationwide, and nearly 30,000 in Massachusetts, on Gov. Baker’s decision to sign a paid family and medical leave program into law.

"Massachusetts MomsRising members thank and commend Governor Charlie Baker for signing into law the paid family and medical leave bill the state legislature passed last week. The comprehensive paid leave program will take effect next year with workers being able to utilize benefits beginning in 2021. Massachusetts workers will have access to 12 weeks of job-protected family leave and 20 weeks of job-protected medical leave, with wage replacement of up to $850 per week. The program is funded by both workers and employers and its definition of ‘family’ includes spouses, domestic partners, children, parents, parents-in-law, in loco parentis, grandchildren, grandparents and siblings. It will help take strain off business as well as families and strengthen the state’s economy.

 “MomsRising members in Massachusetts worked hard to make this victory possible, sharing personal stories, reaching out to their legislators by phone and email, joining regional meetings, and participating in lobby days on Beacon Hill – all to advance paid leave for Massachusetts families. We helped create critical bipartisan MOMentum that led to this victory!

“Passage of this bill also builds momentum for the national legislation our country needs. We are the only industrialized nation without this key policy in place, even though just 15 percent of U.S. workers have access to paid leave through their employers and many working people cannot afford to use the unpaid leave the Family and Medical Leave Act offers. In addition to continuing progress in the states, we need a national standard – one that is accessible, affordable and inclusive. Ultimately, we need Congress to pass the Family And Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act, which would create a social insurance fund that benefits all workers in this country.

“We need Congress to follow Massachusetts’ lead!”

# # # #

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.