Two out of five workers in Tacoma can’t take time off if they – or a family member – gets sick or injured.
Two Tacoma lawmakers think that’s wrong. Now supporters of paid sick leave for all workers are having a rally in support of the idea 6:30 p.m. Thursday, specifically for a paid sick days ordinance in the city of Tacoma.
Legislation on paid sick days is still in the House of Representatives.
Rep. Tami Green wrote House Bill 1457, which expands Washington state’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance program.
When she testified in the House of Representatives about the legislation, Green said, “As a mom, and a nurse, and a legislator, I see how devastating an illness in the family can be. Family and medical leave is the solution to a strong middle-class… when Washington invests in working families we have a strong record of success.”
According to a Washington Policy Watch story, Sarah Francis testified on behalf of 50,000 members of MomsRising who believe “new moms and dads should be able to care for their newborns without the fear of missing payments.”
Rep. Laurie Jinkins introduced House Bill 1313, setting minimum standards for paid sick leave. Jinkins said at the House hearing that “families should not have to make a choice between putting food on the table and sick leave… When people cannot access sick leave, that’s the biggest way epidemics spread.”
Testimony from those hearings included estimates that nearly 1 million workers in Washington state have no paid sick leave.