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CONGRESSWOMAN SHEILA JACKSON LEE APPLAUDS PLANS TO STRENGTHEN AMERICA’S MIDDLE CLASS BY ENSURING PAID SICK LEAVE AND EXPANDING ACCESS TO PAID FAMILY LEAVE

January 15, 2015

Currently, In Our State of Texas 3,757,440 Workers Have No Paid Sick Leave

CONGRESSWOMAN SHEILA JACKSON LEE APPLAUDS PLANS TO STRENGTHEN AMERICA'S MIDDLE CLASS BY ENSURING PAID SICK LEAVE AND EXPANDING ACCESS TO PAID FAMILY LEAVE

Currently, In Our State of Texas 3,757,440 Workers Have No Paid Sick Leave

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee applauded plans announced by the White House today to strengthen the middle class by working to pass a bill that ensures earned paid sick leave and by proposing new funding in the budget to help more states to create paid family leave programs. The Congresswoman released the following statement:

"Today, too many working parents have to struggle to be both good parents at home and good employees in the workplace. Indeed, too many of today's workplaces have simply not kept pace with the changing American family."

"In 1965, both parents were working outside the home in 40 percent of America's households with children. Today, both parents are working outside the home in 60 percent of these households. Similarly, in the early 1970s, 31 percent of women with children under the age of five were participating in the labor force. Today, that figure has more than doubled to 63 percent of women with children under the age of five.

"We need to bring our workplace policies into the 21st century. Family-friendly policies that better support middle class families can meet the needs of both employers and employees alike. Indeed, paid sick days and paid family leave have been shown to both reduce turnover and increase productivity – improving employers' bottom-line and strengthening America's economy."

Following are some of the plans outlined by the White House today that are strongly supported by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee:

• Pushing Congress to Pass the Healthy Families Act. The Healthy Families Act would allow working Americans to earn up to seven days per year of paid sick leave. No working parent should have to choose between sending a sick child to school in the morning or losing that day's paycheck. Yet there are 43 million workers across the country and 3,757,440 workers in Texas alone who currently have no paid sick leave.

• Calling on States and Cities to Pass Laws Similar to Healthy Families Act. While Congress is considering the Healthy Families Act, the President will be urging states and cities to pass their own laws allowing workers to earn sick leave. Connecticut and California have enacted statewide paid sick day's laws and, this year, voters in Massachusetts supported earned sick days by an overwhelming majority.

• Providing New Funding to Help More States Create Paid Leave Programs. Three states—California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island – have launched successful programs offering paid family and medical leave, including for such events as the birth of a child, benefiting the workers in those states. The Administration is proposing significant new mandatory funding to help additional states develop these key, effective programs.

"Over the next two years, I and other Democrats are going to be fighting for bigger paychecks for middle class families. And we are also going to be fighting for family-friendly policies for middle class families – such policies as paid sick leave and paid family leave – in order to give these working parents the tools they need to be both productive employees at the workplace and successful parents back at home."