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What I've Been Reading This Week: Paid Family Leave Edition


Paid family leave has been a major talking point among both Republicans and Democrats in Congress for some time.  With one of President Donald Trump's daughters, Ivanka Trump, bringing more awareness to the matter, members of Congress have started to give paid family leave more attention.  As a result of a few developments on the national (and local) stage in regard to paid family leave, I think it is appropriate to dedicate this post solely to that topic.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


A Closer Look At The Two Major Paid Leave Proposals

After last week's Congressional hearing on paid family leave, The Huffington Post published an article that laid out some of the strengths (and weaknesses) of the two major paid family leave proposals that have been supported by Republicans and Democrats in Congress.  As further explained in another article, below, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has proposed a paid family leave proposal that has started to garner some support among many Democrats.  However, critics have been quick to label her plan as placing an improper tax burden on employers, in order to fund the plan.  Of course, the competing proposal supported by several Republicans, including Florida Senator Marco Rubio, has been attacked as "raiding" Social Security and placing working class mothers and minorities in an untenable situation once they approach retirement age.  As this Huffington Post article keenly points out, no proposal appears to the clear "winner"...but there are several key distinctions to look at when comparing these two plans.


Virginia & Delaware Approve Paid Family Leave For State Employees

What has been considered a major victory in the ongoing push to implement paid family leave across the country, both Virginia and Delaware recently implemented paid family leave for state employees.  As Genevieve Douglas writes, in Delaware, state workers will be eligible for twelve weeks of paid maternity or paternity leave after the birth or adoption of a child six years or younger.  These state employees will be eligible for leave after one year of employment.  As for state workers in Virginia, they will be able to take up to eight weeks of paid parental leave after the birth of a newborn or to care for a child under the age of 18 that has been newly placed for adoption, foster care, or custodial care.


New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Pushes Her Own Paid Family Leave Proposal

Last week, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand advocated for the passage of her own paid family leave proposal.  Her bill, the FAMILY Act, would fund paid family leave through employee and employer contributions (estimated to be about $2/week) and provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave.  Under this proposal, paid family leave could be used for either the birth of a child or to care for a sick family member.  Readers might recall that Florida Senator Marco Rubio has a similar paid family leave proposal set to roll out, although his proposal would be funded by employees being able to borrow from their Social Security benefits.  Although I do not think either proposal is a clear "favorite" to become law, they each present alternating funding avenues (a tax under Senator Gillibrand's plan and a "robbing Peter to pay Paul" proposal from Senator Rubio) that could prove to be controversial to certain segments of Congress.  With that being said, with Republicans controlling the relevant committees and having majority control of both the House and Senate, I give a slight edge to Senator Rubio's proposal for the time being.


If Two Different Bills Are Signed By the Governor, New York's Paid Family Leave Plan To Be Expanded

Recently, lawmakers in New York approved a bill that would expand the state's paid family leave plan to benefit employees experiencing bereavement due to the death of a family member.  Lawmakers also passed a bill that would provide paid family leave to employees for transplant preparation and recovery from surgery related to organ or tissue donation.  If New York Governor Andrew Cuomo were to sign both, or either, bill into law, the expansion to the current family leave law would take effect immediately.

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