Healthy Families Act - Contact Your Legislators Today!

By MB -
PathWays PA just sent letters to some of our Congressional leaders asking them to support the Healthy Families Act - and you can do the same! The letter we sent is below. Feel free to make changes and include your own stories. We've included links to information that might help you craft your letter, or you can read our older posts on earned sick time. You can also send a message through the National Partnership for Women and Families.

If you send a letter, please let us know in the comments or by emailing us.

As Congress continues the debate on health care, we wanted to take this opportunity to write to you about a related and important piece of legislation: The Healthy Families Act (H.R. 2460/ S. 1152). With public awareness growing about the need for earned time off due to H1N1 and Domestic Violence Awareness Month, October is the perfect time to sign on and show your support.

As you know, Representative DeLauro and the late Senator Kennedy reintroduced the Healthy Families Act earlier this year. Under this legislation, workers without earned sick time – who make up nearly fifty percent of the workforce – would have the opportunity to earn up to seven days each year to care for themselves and their families. For every 40 hours they work, an individual would earn 1 hour in sick time. This legislation also includes a provision for families affected by domestic violence to use the time in order to treatment or other assistance.

Children are among the most vulnerable to H1N1, and for all populations, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that those infected stay home from work and school. Yet without earned sick time, parents must make a no-win decision between working sick (or with sick children) or staying home and losing pay or employment.

There are many more reasons why the Healthy Families Act is important:

  • HFA Supports Families: parents can use time to take their children to the doctor, especially those newly covered by SCHIP
  • HFA Supports Businesses: employers can increases productivity and morale in the workplace while avoiding the high cost of turnover
  • HFA Supports Public Health: patrons have lower risk of catching an illness from a sick food handler, child care provider, or health care worker

We know that you are a strong supporter of the families and businesses in Pennsylvania and in your district. We hope you can demonstrate that support by signing on as a cosponsor of the Healthy Families Act.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Overlooked and Undercounted: Struggling to Make Ends Meet in Pennsylvania

By -
Image
Census data tells us that 13% of Pennsylvania households live in poverty. In reality, even more households don’t have the income they need to reach self-sufficiency. One in four Pennsylvania households – over 846,000 – lack enough income to cover just the necessities. Since 1997, PathWays PA has worked with Dr. Diana Pearce and the University of Washington to calculate  The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Pennsylvania . Over the last 23 years,  The Self-Sufficiency Standard of Pennsylvania  has documented the continuing increase in the real cost of living, illuminating the economic crunch experienced by so many families today. Since 2010, PathWays PA and the University of Washington have also issued three versions of the  Overlooked and Undercounted  report, which looks at the number of households living above and below self-sufficiency. You can now use the interactive materials below to find out what it takes to be self-sufficient in your county. Click ...
Read more

Mini-Budget Update-Supporting the American Community Survey

By MB -
Image
(via The Census Project ) Next Tuesday, June 19 is an important date to mark on your calendar. The Congressional Joint Economic Committee is holding a public hearing on the economic impact of eliminating the American Community Survey (ACS) at 2:30 p.m., in Room 210 of the Canon House Office Building. Witnesses that will be speaking in opposition to the move to eliminate the ACS are Vincent Barabba, former director of the Census Bureau in two GOP administrations and Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Association of General Contractors and also representing the National Association of Business Economists. It is very important that we pack the congressional hearing room! If you cannot come, please urge your colleages to come. If you represent a non-DC organization contact your friends in Washington and urge them to attend. Also on Tuesday of next week some of our congressional supporters will be holding a noon press conference in the so-called House Triangle right outside the Cap...
Read more

Overlooked and Undercounted in the Media (#media)

By MB -
Image
Below are all of the places we've seen Overlooked and Undercounted in the month of May! If you know of anywhere else, please let us know! You can also listen to the audio from our May 11 Conference Call on our website . May 21, 2009 - New Report Says 1 in 5 PA Families Live in Poverty May 21, 2009 - LTE: Clarifying ‘Overlooked And Undercounted’ Study May 19, 2009 - Caught in a trap: State and federal governments must help working poor May 16, 2009 - Study: Local poverty estimates too conservative May 15, 2009 - Study: Pa. Families Above Poverty Level, But Still Struggling May 12, 2009 - Study: 1 in 5 PA Families Struggling to Make Ends Meet May 12, 2009 - Report: Many PA families struggling May 12, 2009 - PathWays PA Releases New Report on Self-Sufficiency Standard May 12, 2009 - Poverty worse in PA than reported: study May 11, 2009 - 1 in 5 PA Households Can't Make Ends Meet May 11, 2009 - Study: 1 in 5 PA residents can't make ends meet May 11, 2009 - 1 in...
Read more