Letter to the Hon. Donald Trump, President of the United States - Senator Gillibrand, Congresswomen DeLauro And Pressley Urge Trump To Support Emergency Paid Leave In Next Economic Relief Package

Letter

Mr. President:
As Congress and your administration work to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting
economic disruption, we urge your support for including the P.A.I.D. Leave Act in the next legislative
vehicle. While the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) took important first steps in
providing limited access to paid sick days and paid family leave in the event of school or child care
closure, far too many working families were left without coverage. We need to broaden the availability of paid leave far beyond the provisions in the FFCRA, especially in light of the ongoing emergency. Every American needs paid leave that encompasses both sick days and personal and family medical leave.
Millions of Americans are being forced to choose between their paycheck and helping to protect their
families and communities by staying home if they feel sick. Additionally, the policies you have signed into law leave people caring for sick loved ones or themselves without the same paid leave protections as the parents forced to stay home because of school or childcare closures. This inequity is arbitrary, harmful, and must be resolved.
Sadly, the United States is among the few developed countries that do not have a national paid sick days and paid family and medical leave policy. Over eight in ten working Americans lack access to
comprehensive paid leave. Paid sick days and paid family and medical leave are two of the most
important policies we can enact to stymie the spread of this virus, provide for the collective good, and help ensure the economic security of working families. To put it simply, if people can afford to stay home when they or a loved one are sick, they are less likely to become infected or to infect others.
During this emergency, we can and must do more to protect all families in America. We introduced the P.A.I.D. Leave act to ensure every worker in America has access to these basic public health and
economic security protections. If enacted, our bill would ensure every worker, without exception, would have 14 emergency paid sick days and be able to accrue up to seven additional paid sick days, as well as have coverage for up to three months of quarantined leave, personal or family medical leave, or leave during a school closure. Given the urgent nature of this leave for all workers, the federal government would cover the costs of these programs for nearly two years after enactment.
Almost as important as this immediate assistance, beginning in 2022, workers would have a federal right to paid sick days and a national paid family and medical leave program. The national leave program would be modeled off the Family and Medical Leave Act and existing state policies and, for the cost of a cup of coffee a week per worker, would ensure no working American would ever again have to choose between a personal or family medical emergency and a paycheck.
We must take bold and aggressive steps to address the COVID-19 crisis. By enacting the P.A.I.D Leave Act, we can help stop the spread of this virus and make our country better prepared in the future. We look forward to working with you to ensure it is included in the next coronavirus response legislative package.