🚨 Senate Democrats have decided to drop paid family and medical leave, a key cornerstone of Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, from their mammoth social spending package Wednesday after attempts to drastically pare it down were deemed insufficient, three sources tell me.
In previous rounds of negotiations, the White House warned House Dems that paid leave would have to be cut, a source said. Lawmakers, advocates had fought successfully to keep it in the package by making dramatic changes from the universal 12-week benefit Biden initially proposed
But on Wednesday, the benefit fell victim to a broader effort to bring down the cost of the bill, which Democratic lawmakers plan to clear using reconciliation -- the Senate procedure that allows passage of spending-related legislation with a simple majority
Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, a longtime advocate for paid leave, negotiated with Sen. Joe Manchin throughout the week to keep paid leave in the bill -- sharing the stories of workers and drafting alternatives. But her efforts were unsuccessful
Already, advocates are fuming over what they see as an unwillingness by the White House to fight hard enough for a policy it won election on, particularly in the face of a public health crisis and an economic crisis that disproportionately impacted women and low-wage workers
Groups launched an eleventh-hour push to keep paid leave in the package, sending mass emails and flooding social media. The hashtag #SavePaidLeave appeared in posts by Paid Leave for All, National Women’s Law Center and other groups along with advocates like Melinda Gates
The U.S. is the only wealthy nation without paid leave. Just 23% of private-sector workers have access to paid family leave, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 77% have access to paid sick leave. In both instances, they are disproportionately higher-paid workers
Story pubbing soon. In the meantime, a reminder that @heatherscope, @AliceOllstein, @marianne_levine and I had this forecast on Saturday: politico.com/news/2021/10/2…
@Eleanor_Mueller Almost every nation on Earth has paid family leave. Not just the "wealthy" ones. The U.S. is an international embarrassment. x.com/juddlegum/stat…
@Eleanor_Mueller Almost every nation on Earth has paid family leave. Not just the "wealthy" ones. The U.S. is an international embarrassment. x.com/juddlegum/stat…
@Eleanor_Mueller @csilberman70 Aside from fighting tooth & nail to save 11,000 coal jobs in West Virginia, what exactly is @Sen_JoeManchin for I know that’s unfair. Except it seems like it’s not Instead of an entitlement society, let’s just continue to have the same sorry sh*tshow of an economy we have now…
@Eleanor_Mueller Where is that in the Constitution?