Edwards Announces Paid Family Leave, Sick Day Plan

Edwards Announces Paid Family Leave Plan
By Holly Ramer--Associated Press
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
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LEBANON, N.H. (AP) — When it comes to helping parents take time off from work, Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards is raising the stakes.

The former North Carolina senator on Tuesday proposed spending $2 billion a year to help states create family leave programs that offer workers at least eight weeks of paid time off to care for a newborn or ill family member. The proposal is similar to those offered by his rivals, but Edwards would put up more money — New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's plan calls for $1 billion a year; Illinois Sen. Barack Obama proposes $1.5 billion.

Edwards also would set a national goal of eight weeks of paid leave for all by 2014.

"It's really important for parents for families to be able to take this leave, to be able to do it and not lose their income, which is a huge drain on millions of families in this country," he said at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon.

Like Clinton and Obama, Edwards also proposes expanding the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, co-authored by another Democratic presidential hopeful, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd. Though Edwards wants to make 13 million more workers eligible for unpaid leave under the act, he noted that millions who are currently eligible don't participate because they can't afford to.

Edwards also would require all businesses to offer their workers a minimum of seven paid sick days a year. He said the range of proposals complement his other health and education initiatives.

"It works in combination with universal health care, universal preschool, and a whole series of things that are essentially aimed at making sure we strengthen and grow the middle class in this country, and provide some level of financial security that does not exist today," he said.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gFhsEDbkEmOQOe3c-7zz-g3jS_1QD8SSV6B00

This one's a no-brainer folks. Edwards knows that those without health insurance are working in food service and handling the food you're going to eat. If they're sick and handling your food the chances of passing along illnesses increases.

This measure can save a lot of grief. Edward's health plan is the best of all the candidates IMHO. We need this guy in the Oval Office like NOW !

This is going to start a fight between those with kids and those without. The people who chose not to have kids are now going to say: Hey, why do I have to work 50 weeks a year so that co-worker X gets 8 weeks of paid leave every year? Doesn't seem fair.

And I can see their point. Why shouldn't people with no kids get that same level of paid leave?

People with "no kids" don't have that shite to worry about. :)

why the corporates will do their damnest to villify him.

Not that we're having class warfare or anything in this country..YES.