SB 2017-066: Family and Education Support Act (Final Vote)

[Associate Justice PiT]

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     Sponsor: Siren

     I hereby open the floor for debate.

[Anna Komnene]

I'm glad this is on the floor now!  Representative simossad did a bill on family leave in Fremont and asked me to sponsor something similar, which I was happy to do.  I added educational leave too because I think it's similarly important.

I feel that government has a responsibility to create the conditions necessary to have a flourishing society, and families are one of the most important components of that.  While we don't necessarily want to tell families how they should raise their children, we do want to make sure that they can because that's our future and being able to spend time with newborn children is essential to developing a bond in the family.  Hannah Arendt identifies a distinction between the private and public sphere where the private is a place where people can explore the uniqueness of their humanity with a relative degree of protection from the pressures of the outside world.  Without having that strong foundation in the private sphere, people get swept away in the public sphere and erodes unique qualities in people.

Of course, people who value the private sphere will pursue it anyway, but without paid leave, it forces families to make a choice.  Do they sacrifice their time with their children in order to ensure they have the resources to care for them both now and in the future?  Or do one or both of the parents decide to leave the workforce so that they can focus on raising their family?

I don't think people should have to make that choice, and I also think it benefits employers because they're more likely to have loyal, longterm employees when they feel like their needs are met, as opposed to floating from job to job over the course of their life.  Atlasia is one of the few industrialized countries in the world that does not have some sort of paid leave policy, and it is high time we changed that.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Section 2, should the situation be handled any differently if the expectant mother performs a role that could not feasibly be replaced? I do not know how this sort of thing is dealt with IRL, but it jumped out at me as a question.

     Section 5, it bothers me a little bit that there is evidently no limit on this. A teacher could take educational leave to pursue a Ed.D and the school district would have to pay for many missed hours over an indefinite timespan, that could ultimately be as much as 6-8 years.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

I'm totally in favor of this legislation, although I would like to see an answer vis a vis PiT's question regarding Section 5.

[Anna Komnene]

     Section 2, should the situation be handled any differently if the expectant mother performs a role that could not feasibly be replaced? I do not know how this sort of thing is dealt with IRL, but it jumped out at me as a question.

I assume it would be similar to if she broke her leg or needed back surgery or something.  They'd probably hire a temp replacement or find someone already there that can do that on a temp basis.  Actually, at least with pregnancy, they'd know about it and have time to prepare.  Other things can happen unexpectedly.

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I'm not an expert on education, but I feel like the stipulation that it has to be relevant to their profession would prevent that since I think Ed.D are more for people that want to be a principle or superintendant.  I'd be open to further clarifying or putting a cap on the length of time though.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     My thought would be to put a cap on the amount of time they could take for educational leave without preclearance by the employer (would that be needed in general though? It is specified as a right, after all). I do not know what amount of time would be appropriate, though.

[Anna Komnene]

Okay proposing this amendment.  Most masters programs take about 2 years for a full time student, so I think 3 years seems fair for someone who's working a part time job.  Note that this only means getting paid time off while attending classes and other required activities.  I also included an amendment to allow employers to require a copy of workers' schedules for verification purposes.

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[Associate Justice PiT]

     Senators have 36 hours to object.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     The amendment is adopted.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Are there any more comments? If people are alright with this, I can open a final vote tomorrow.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     The final vote is now open on this bill for 72 hours. Please vote aye, nay, or abstain.

[Anna Komnene]

Aye

[LLR]

Aye

[Grumpier Than Thou]

Aye

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Abstain

[Associate Justice PiT]

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[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

(belated Aye.)

[Potus]

The "Create the Wage Gap Act."