The signers include the State Treasurers of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
The letter, organized by Paid Leave for the United States (PL+US) and For the Long Term, cites broad support for paid leave from the business community and makes it clear that the United State’s position as “the only high-income country that does not have a national paid leave public policy in place” creates “tremendous risks” for the economy, especially in the wake of the COVID crisis. Without a federal policy in place, only nine states and the District of Columbia, have paid leave programs in place, which leaves a patchwork of state programs and the overwhelming majority of states’ finances and investments vulnerable to potential investment losses and operational risks.
A strong, comprehensive national paid leave policy, the letter says, would “not only secure a baseline of economic security for working families,” but would also support “businesses by standardizing policy, reducing costs, and building resilience to weather future economic or public health crises. The full letter is available here.
“State treasurers are our proverbial canary in the coal mine,” said Annie Sartor, PL+US Senior Director of Business Partnerships. “They are intimately acquainted with the systemic risk we’re bearing without federal paid family and medical leave which make their advocacy especially important for legislators who want to see our country and working families’ economic success.”
“The pandemic taught us in drastic terms that the status quo isn’t working for working families. We need a bold national paid leave policy so people can recover from an illness or care for loved ones without fear of getting fired or losing a paycheck,” said Wisconsin State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski. “This is not only good for workers, it’s good for our economy. We must do better — and the widespread, bipartisan support from the public, and the business community, prove that we can. It’s time for Congress to listen to working families and pass President Biden’s paid leave proposal in the American Families Plan.”
“Our paid leave program in Washington State has helped workers and their employers better navigate the COVID recession, and it’s time for a clear federal paid leave policy to support all Americans,” said Washington State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti.
Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Rogers said federal action on paid leave was about fairness. “Businesses should compete based on innovation, customer service, and the quality of their products or services they sell, not whether their state legislature requires them to provide employees with an essential benefit like paid leave,” said Rogers.
“Honestly, many of the small business leaders in our states want to provide paid leave to their employees, but they struggle to provide it and lose great people because of it,” said Maine State Treasurer Henry Beck. “A federal paid leave policy, would make paid leave accessible to all businesses and help smaller businesses compete with the big guys for the very best employees.”
California State Treasurer Fiona Ma said paid leave is also a matter of equity. “5.4 million women have lost jobs since last February, with women of color hit the hardest, and we know that the lack of national, comprehensive paid family and medical leave played an undeniable role in forcing millions of women out of the workforce entirely since the start of the COVID crisis,” said Ma. “We simply can’t compete as a country if we continue to force women and people of color to choose between the families and their livelihoods.”
“We’re coming together as State Treasurers and speaking out in favor of national paid family and medical leave, both because it's the right thing to do and because the current status quo leaves our states at risk for investment losses and operational challenges without it,” said Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read. “Paid leave is an essential benefit for families in their most vulnerable moments and, as the pandemic showed us, the same is true for the state economies we are tasked with protecting as State Treasurers.”
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About PL+US
PL+US (Paid Leave for the United States) is the national campaign to win paid family and medical leave for every working person in the US. PL+US has helped win paid family leave for nearly 8 million people through our transformative workplace campaigns at companies like Walmart, Starbucks, CVS and more in partnership with employees, employers, consumers, and investors. Learn more at: http://paidleave.us/
About For the Long Term
For the Long Term supports State, City, County, and Tribal Treasurers in leveraging the unique powers of their offices to protect workers rights, to ensure fair markets, and to secure an inclusive and sustainable economy for current and future Americans.
Learn more at forthelongterm.org