House Democrats, eager to align themselves with President Obama’s recently outlined populist agenda, have formally introduced one of his most popular proposals in Congress.
Lawmakers on Tuesday announced a bill that would provide federal employees six weeks of paid parental leave, responding to Obama’s call for such a bill during his Jan. 20 State of the Union address.
Bill sponsor Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said the bill is needed to help government employees take paid time off for parenting or caring for a sick relative.
Current law gives federal employees 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave.
“It’s no longer Ozzie and Harriet, with Harriet sitting at home,” Maloney said, referencing a 1950s television series. “Both Ozzie and Harriet are working and carrying a very stressful burden. The support system is not there.”
The bill is among the first Democratic attempts to move an agenda outlined by Obama before a joint session of Congress last week.
“Today, we’re the only advanced country on Earth that doesn’t guarantee paid sick leave or paid maternity leave to our workers,” Obama said in his address.
Democrats are planning more bills to advance Obama’s agenda.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., will soon introduce the Healthy Families Act, a bill that would allow workers to earn seven days of paid sick leave annually.
“Let’s put it to a vote right here in Washington,” Obama said in his State of the Union address. “Send me a bill that gives every worker in America the opportunity to earn seven days of paid sick leave. It’s the right thing to do.”
But the legislation will at most provide Democrats with ammunition for a messaging war with the GOP.
Republicans hold the majority in both the House and Senate and there are no plans to take up the Democratic bills.
But Democrats pointed out Monday that the public strongly supports paid sick leave and paid family leave, according to polls. Obama hopes to require private employers to provide paid leave as well.
Republicans say such a law could hurt businesses, in particular small companies, who are unable to afford paid and sick leave for employees.
James Sherk of the conservative Heritage Foundation has outlined several arguments against mandating paid leave, among them the theory that it would lower worker pay overall.
“Companies respond to mandated benefits by reducing cash wages,” Sherk wrote for Heritage. “Mandatory sick leave requires workers to take less of their compensation as cash wages and more as time off, whether they want to or not.”
A handful of states have taken up the issue on their own.
In Massachusetts, voters in November approved a referendum requiring most companies to provide sick leave. California and Connecticut also require companies to provide paid sick leave.
