Harris proposes six months of government-paid family leave
October 7, 2019
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) seeks to brand herself as the progressive standard bearer of family issues in the 2020 presidential race. To that end, Harris on Monday released a plan farther left of what Democrats have proposed so far on paid family leave and child care.
What would the plan do?
Harris‘ proposal would provide every worker in America six months of paid family and medical leave — double what even the most fervent supporters of paid leave in Congress have pushed for. The plan represents a shift for Harris herself, who earlier in the campaign supported legislation for three months of paid leave.
Under Harris' plan, people who make less than $75,000 a year would qualify for full wage replacement during their leave, with progressively smaller benefits for higher-wage households.
In addition to caring for new children, the proposal would allow workers take leave for personal or family medical issues, in addition to a variety of other situations. For example, Harris’ campaign said that a parent could take leave to care for a child harmed by domestic violence. It wouldn’t be limited to immediate family — workers could take leave to care for domestic partners, parents-in-law and “chosen family,” among others.
Paid leave would be available to all types of workers under Harris’ plan, including “self-employed workers” and independent contractors (though she doesn’t fully explain how that would work). Workers could also break up their leave, taking portions of it intermittently.
In addition, Harris said she would push for passage of the Child Care for Working Families Act to cap the percentage of income that low- and middle-income families spend on child care.
Harris also said she would create a federal inter-agency working group tasked with cutting child poverty by 50 percent in her first term, in addition to expanding food stamps and tax credits for families with children.
How would it work?
Most of Harris’ plan relies on approval from Congress — a hard sell, to say the least.
Democrats like Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.) have tried for years to drum up support for the FAMILY Act, which would provide three months of paid leave, but haven’t had much luck. Democratic gains in Congress would increase Harris’ chances of passing her plan, but even that wouldn’t be a sure bet. DeLauro’s bill, for instance, has sat untouched in the Ways and Means Committee since it was introduced in February.
Harris’ paid leave plan would be funded by new payroll taxes on employers and employees in addition to unspecified “general revenues.” The federal government’s portion would be funded through fines on corporations that fail to narrow their gender-based pay gaps. Harris estimates the fines would total $180 billion in the first decade and diminish over time. It would also be funded through tax increases on large corporations.
Source: https://www.politico.com/
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