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What I've Been Reading This Week


While things have been a bit quiet in regard to paid family leave (as of late), there was a bipartisan discussion on the topic earlier this week that is worth checking out.  Whether this paid leave proposal finds enough support to make it through Congress remains to be seen; however, with initial bipartisan support it might have the legs to make it to President Donald Trump’s desk for signature.

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



A week ago, the House of Representatives passed the FAIR Act (also known as the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act) which would bar companies from requiring workers and consumers resolve legal disputes in private arbitration.  The legislation passed along party lines with only two Democrats voting against the bill and two Republicans supporting the bill.  The legislation now moves to the Senate where many expect it to not pass.  If by happenstance it managed to find enough support in the Republican controlled Senate to advance, President Donald Trump has stated previously he would veto the legislation.


Bipartisan Discussion Continues Over Paid Family Leave Proposal

This past Wednesday, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy and Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema held a joint discussion over their paid family leave proposal expected to be introduced in Congress within the next week.  The proposal would allow families to get $5,000 from their child tax credit upon the birth of a child, in exchange for a slightly reduced child tax credit in future years.  The AEI-Brookings Institute has released a video of this birpartisan discussion that is worth watching.

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What I’ve Been Reading This Week

A few years ago, I remember when the “Fight for $15” movement was taking off around the country.  Lo and behold, it appears that a $15/hour minimum wage is not the stopping point, which should be no surprise.  As the below article notes, New York is aggressively moving to ramp up hourly wage rates even higher.  While all the  below articles are worth a read, I called particular attention to that one. As always, below are a couple article that caught my eye this week. Disney World Workers Reject Latest Contract Offer Late last week, it was announced that workers at Disney World had rejected the most recent contract offer from the company, calling on their employer to do better.  As Brooks Barnes at The New York Times writes, the unions that represent about 32,000 workers at Disney World reported their members resoundingly rejected the 5 year contract offer which would have seen workers receive a 10% raise and retroactive increased back pay.  While Disney’s offer would have increased pa