Cassidy to chair family leave hearing
Published 4:45 am Friday, July 6, 2018
U.S. Sen. Dr. Bill Cassidy, R-La., chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy, will chair a hearing on the importance of paid family leave for American working families. The hearing will be Wednesday at 3 p.m. Eastern time.
Earlier this year, Cassidy met with Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump in his Washington, D.C., office to discuss the issue of paid family leave and the importance of providing families with flexible work arrangements that allow workers to care for sick family members or take maternity or paternity leave.
“Our tax cut legislation that President Trump signed into law made progress by expanding the child tax credit and encouraging businesses to offer employees up to 12 weeks of paid family leave,” Cassidy said. “I am looking forward to a productive discussion about how we can build upon these efforts and give parents the workplace flexibility they need to raise a family.”
The tax cut legislation Republicans passed into law in December included a provision creating the first nationwide paid family-leave policy in American history, which incentivizes employers to offer workers up to 12 weeks of paid family leave with a tax credit of up to 25 percent.
Scheduled to speak at Wednesday’s hearing are U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. Also speaking will be Andrew Biggs, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., and Vicki Shabo, vice president of the National Partnership for Women and Families.