Week 2 begins, and your thoughts on paid family medical leave
2023-01-11
Dear friend,
I'm back in Montpelier for Week 2 of the 2023–2024 biennium, and it feels like things are moving fast.
I'm looking at paid family medical leave. What are your thoughts on it?
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More details on that below. First a couple basics on the day-to-day of a State Rep.
The legislative session starts in January and goes through May, taking only one week off at Town Meeting. We are here working Tuesday through Friday. Because it is two hours from my home, I've rented a room to stay over. (Many legislators live close enough to go home to their families at night, but many don't.)
Our time so far on the House floor has been minimal, and mostly procedural. Bills are introduced and sent to the committee of jurisdiction. You can see the session calendar and the link to livestream on the Legislature's homepage: https://legislature.vermont.gov/
Every House member is assigned to a single committee, where we spend most of our working time. My committee is Corrections and Institutions, and our schedule, agenda, and livestream info is here: https://legislature.vermont.gov/committee/detail/2024/17
Today, the committee of 11 elected your Windham-6 Rep as their Clerk. That means I have responsibilities around taking roll, counting votes, and other procedural and rules issues.
Here I am with our Chair, Rep. Alice Emmons of Springfield. As I mentioned the other day, Alice is the "Dean" of the House with 40 years of service. I counted and I'm the fifth Rep from Windham-6 she has served alongside.
I also ask a lot of questions about buildings and how tax dollars are spent on them. You can hear those or questions being asked in any committee by following the links from the Legislature homepage.
Here we are today hearing testimony from Jennifer Fitch, Commissioner of Buildings and General Services, the building owner and operator to most state facilities.
The HVAC in the State Capitol is due for major replacement.
In this photo we are above the House chamber looking at one of the air handlers.
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Around 65% of Vermonters lack access to paid leave from their jobs. That means they are foregoing time to bond with new children, or not being able to take adequate time off for a health issue, or to care for a family member. Vermonters who are coping with a domestic assault, or prepping for deployment, can't take extra time off work without risking losing their jobs.
With universal paid family medical leave, both workers and employers would pay into an insurance policy to cover wage replacement for those life situations.
How will we pay for it? What are the benefits? Can employers opt out?
I'm studying these questions and more as I consider whether I will support this bill.
Would you like to see universal paid family medical leave? Have you been affected by not being able to take time off when you needed it?
I'd love to hear from you.