Family Values @ Work Celebrates Massachusetts Passage of Paid Leave
Huge congratulations to Raise Up Massachusetts and all their partners for winning a strong paid leave bill. We join them in calling on Governor Baker to sign the bill and ensure paid family and medical leave for more than 3 million people in the Bay State.
“On behalf of the Family Values @ Work network, we congratulate Raise Up Massachusetts and all their partners for leading the way as Massachusetts joins the growing number of states across the country passing paid family and medical leave with bipartisan support. Once signed and implemented, this bill will mean nearly 3.1 million new workers in Massachusetts will have access to paid family and medical leave.
“Raise Up Massachusetts built a strong and diverse coalition of community, labor and faith groups, with support from many business owners and health care professionals. Activists were prepared to take paid family leave to the voters via a ballot initiative in November if the legislature failed to pass a strong bill. Representatives of business lobbies agreed to join negotiations. More and more business leaders know that offering paid leave is good for the bottom line, and increasingly elected officials agree that paid leave is not only good policy, but also good politics.
“Along with our partners in Massachusetts, we urge Governor Charlie Baker, who has 10 days to act, to sign this bill into law. Massachusetts will then have one of the strongest paid family and medical leave bills in the country, giving working people access to up to 12 weeks of job-protected family leave, and up to 20 weeks of medical leave (up to 26 weeks for new mothers). If the Governor vetoes the bill, Raise Up Massachusetts will put the measure on the November ballot.
“One way or another, we expect Massachusetts to become the seventh state to have passed their own laws, with more wins on the horizon. These are paving the way for a national bill so that all of us can be good caregivers without risking financial security.”
Contact: Kayla Ermanni, kayla.ermanni@berlinrosen.com, 202-800-7408
