Paid parental leave may transcend party politics

Both Republicans and Democrats are working on the issue

Tameka Henry takes care of her disabled husband, her 87year-old grandfather and her four children, ages 10 to 16. Two of her kids have asthma. Her husband has a chronic intestinal condition, diabetes and congestive heart failure. He’s unemployed.

Henry, who makes around $30,000 a year as a case administrator for a behavioral health care provider, saves up sick days and vacation time to use when someone in the family is sick or needs help. Her husband, she said, often needs hours of daily care.

“I haven’t had a vacation in over 10 years,” said Henry, who lives in Las Vegas. “But I know I’m lucky because my employer understands my situation and does give me some time off.”

Henry’s employer does not provide, nor does her state or the federal government, paid family or medical leave. Indeed, the U.S. is the only wealthy industrialized country that does not guarantee paid leave to care for a new or adopted child, an ill family member or to address an individual’s own serious health condition.

Both Republicans and Democrats may be moving to change that with dueling options.

In its 2018 budget, the Trump administration included a national paid leave plan for parents after the birth or adoption of a child. It’s a rare call for a new entitlement program from the administration and not yet been endorsed by GOP leaders on Capitol Hill.

Ivanka Trump heads up the initiative at the White House. Proposed are six weeks of paid leave for mothers and fathers at an estimated annual cost of $25 billion, funded by restructuring the federal unemployment insurance system.

Congressional Democrats have reintroduced the Family and Medical Insurance Leave, or FAMILY, Act, which they first submitted in 2013. It would permit all workers to take up to 60 individual days of paid leave per year to care for a new child, a sick family member or one’s own illness. Workers would receive up to 66% of their regular wages to a maximum $1,000 per week. The program, initially introduced in 2013, would be funded by a 0.4% payroll tax on workers’ wages, split evenly between employers and employees.

“We strongly believe this is the right thing to do,” said Vicki Shabo, vice president of the National Partnership for Women & Families in Washington, D.C., which supports the Democrats’ bill. “Why should some people have this benefit and not others based on where they live or the job they have, when it’s clear everyone needs it?”

Republican lawmakers have countered this year with the Strong Families Act. That bill would give employers offering at least two weeks of paid family or medical leave a 25% tax credit for wages paid to workers taking up to 12 weeks of leave. The credit would be capped at $3,000 per employee per year. The credit would cease entirely two years after enactment.

Opponents argue, paid leave is best left as a choice by businesses, which can tailor their policies to the needs of their workforces.

“I haven’t had a vacation in 10 years. But I know I’m lucky because my employer understands my situation and does give me some time off.” Tameka Henry, who takes care of her disabled husband, grandfather and four children