For you this sunday morning. How do you feel about governmentpaid family leave, either at the federal leave or the state or the local level . Parents, call this number, 2027488000. Business owners, 7488001. Ll others, 2027488002. Do you support or oppose governmentpaid family leave . If not by phone, you can weigh in on social media. cspanwj, handle is or you can post a comment on facebook. Here is one of the headlines out there today about whats happening around the country. This is in forbes magazine. As new york and San Francisco pass paid family leave, these 20 states could be next. Well get to those states in a moment, but want to talk about the basics here with clare oconnor, staff writer for forbes. Good morning, clare. Explain off the top, the family and medical leave act, the federal law. It covers who . There are some gaps here, correct . Guest oh, are there ever, yes. Well, unfortunately, the u. S. Remains the only developed country in the world with no federal law guaranteeing paid parental leave. What the fmla does mandate is 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave, so its specifically for a woman who actually gives birth, and it only goes to fulltime workers at companies of over 50 employees. This leaves out a lot of Small Businesses. So people working for Small Businesses wanting to take leave could be fresh out of luck. And its a sad statistic that only 12 of American Workers are offered paid leave through their employers. Host so that puts the states and the localities in action. Explain to us what new york and the city of San Francisco put in place now. Guest well, what theyve done is slightly different. California already had a law on the books, offering six weeks at 55 salary. So what San Francisco has done this all sounds a little convoluted, because it is. Theres no federal law on the books, so the states are left to their own devices. Essentially theyre plugging the gap. Theyre mandating that employers pay the 45 left over that the state is not paying. So employers are having to foot the bill for 45 of a workers pay for six weeks. So, i mean, were talking six weeks pay. This is not a Staggering Amount of time or money. What new york is doing is mandating 12 weeks of paid time off for all workers, whether its fulltime or parttime, and this is not just actually for parents. This is also for people needing to care for seriously ill relatives. And this program is being funded by paycheck deductions. And while it actually hasnt been decided how much theyre going to be at, experts are saying its going to be Something Like 50 cents to a dollar a week. Host we did mention in your piece, you list many other states that are moving along the same lines, and well show the names of the states here while you discuss what else is happening around the country. Can you do that for us . Guest yeah, sure. I moon, it wont surprise to you hear that there are some states where, you know, vocates theres a network that has someone in every state campaigning for this, thinking they have a better chance in some states than others. The states and jurisdictions, you cant forget d. C. , the laces that seem most likely to follow new york next are massachusetts, connecticut, vermont, and washington, d. C. They seem closest. But, you know, there are bills being introduced in different states at this time. Actually the day after San Francisco ace parental leave, democrats in ohio introduced a 1,000 d that for up to a week for 12 weeks. , yeah, 20 states, some of them, its legislation thats being actively pursued, and some its just kind of researching what would happen in these states. So, you know, there are varying degrees of likelihood that these will happen over the course of the next year. Host so, broadly speaking then, whats the reaction been like from the Business Community . Guest well, you know, i wish i had more time to be on the phone with Small Businesses getting reaction. I think also that its, you know, its too soon in a lot of cases to know what the fallout will be. But i have bony pointed towards research that suggests that states that already have this sort of legislation, like california, like rhode island, Small Businesses have seen their retention rates improve when this sort of legislation has been brought up. You know, that being said, of course there are Small Businesses in San Francisco that will be concerned that they wont be able to handle paying 45 of a workers pay for six weeks. But you know what . Some of these businesses are going to have to compete, because what were seeing right now in San Francisco and in silicon valley, palo alto, especially with tech companies, is that theyve pen addressing this government shortfall themselves. There are, you know, Big Tech Companies all over california that are introducing their own policies where the government has fallen short, like, for instance, last week, twitter announced that it would be granting 20 weeks for fulltime employees. And this isnt just in california, either. Theres etsy, the online product shop in new york, has introduced six months of fully paid parental leave across gender. Thats whether its birth or adoption. So i think that in a lot of cases these businesses are already going to be competing with Companies Offering great policies. Scommoip clare, do you see a scenario where the folks here in washington would get together and do something in this area on the federal level . Guest huh. Well, a human being whos also a woman who has a job, i hope so. But i think, you know, obviously this is a contentious topic in the current president ial election, and i think that well see a lot more movement on it, if a democrat wins the white house, frankly. Guest ok, clar oconnor, thank you for joining us so early for joining us. Appreciate it. Guest thank you for having me. Host want to remind you. Numbers f. Youre a parent, call 20274880. If you are a Business Owner, try 2027488001. Nd all others, 2027488002. We welcome your participation to the program, and well get to your calls as soon as they start coming in. The department of labor put together this fact sheet for folks who are interested to read. They say that the need for paurntal leave is as follows. They remind us that only 12 of u. S. Private Sector Workers have access to paid family leave through their employer. Too many workers, they write, still cannot afford to take unpaid leave because of the loss of income and sales or have to cut their leave short because of financial or work place pressers. Millions of workers of care giving responsibilities for both Young Children and aging parents. And labor goes on to write about the benefits of paid leave. Paid l. A. Temperature leave can increase female Labor Force Participation by making it easier for women to stay in the workforce after giving birth, which contributes to economic growth. When parents are better supported at work through paid family and medical leave, they are also less likely to rely on public assistance benefits. They also write that paid leave leads to Better Outcomes for parents and children. Maternity leave improves child health outcomes, increased birth weight, increased premature births and decreased infant mortality, among other things. A word from the independent womens for her oum all this, before we get to our calls. Theyre opposed to paid family leave, paid by the government anyway. They write this new mandate certainly will benefit some employees, but it will create real hardship for many others. Higher Employment Costs mean lower wages and fewer jobs, particularly for those with fewer skills and less education. Women also tend to pay the highest price in terms of lost Economic Opportunity for such familyfriendly policies. They put that in quotes. Some workers pay prefer higher takehome pay instead of more generous paid leave benefits. Thats from the independent womens forum on all this. Calls are here now. Its thomas up first from north las vegas. Good morning, thomas. Caller yeah, im against it totally. Host how come . Caller well, its they say theres a war on women, but Social Security favors women to longevity by 33 you lose there. You lose another 33 on all your money that you put into medicare, medicaid. You know, they just even on the obamacare, womens healthcare costs are 100,000 more over a lifetime than a mans, so theres another 45,000 that a man loses over his lifetime. These funds all just keep adding up. When by to work, im not going to get paid leave. And i got no right to negotiate a relationship, because, you know, basically im not ever going to have a child, because until i can reach have a contract that will be honored in the courts, i wont take the risk of a woman leaving with my child or having the child, too. Host thomas, thanks your sharing your thoughts. Cal in West Virginia, a parent. Good morning, carl. Caller good morning. You know, sometimes i wonder how in the world my wife and i managed to raise five kids without government help. From what i hear from these democrats now, im just amazed. Because, you know, like the guy out there in arizona at the v. A. Hospital, he has been on paid leave for two years. Now, thats punishment. Thats the way the government is punishing him, by making him stay on paid leave for two years while they investigate. Man, im telling why dont we just let everybody stay home . Yeah. Thats a good idea. Let everybody stay home. Host carl, some of the research in some of the pieces weve been reading say the type of thing the government paid family leave will actually help worker retention, and Quentin Sommerville ways it can be good for business. What do you think . Caller i think the government helps enough. I think its time for the government to back off and let people live. The government plays too big a role in everybodys life. Lets put a republican in there and shrink this government down to where it should be. Thats the way i see it. Host thanks, carl. Gaithersburg, maryland, a Business Owner named omar. Good morning. Caller good morning. Host thaur for joining us. What do you think about all this . Caller well, personally, heres what i think. I mean, im 20 years old. Im a college student. Im a Business Owner. I have a very small real estate operation. And the idea that, as a Business Owner, youre mandated by the government to have paid family leave, to me its absurd. I think its just another form of Central Planning, and Central Planning is never good for the economy. I think need to understand that the free market is an organism. Its just like a living organism. And no human being or the Federal Reserve or government officials can, you know, mess with it and make rules and laws that will make it better. I think the best thing to do is just leave it alone. If you think about it, lets say we went from cavemen to the industrial revolution, we did that without all these government mandates and laws and other forms of Central Planning, and i think we need to have less you know, im not a republican or a democrat, im an independent, but i do agree with the republicans as far as shrinking the size of government, and it would really help the economy. Host ok. Thanks for calling, omar, gaithersburg. And laura is on the line now holding in pennsylvania. Laura parent. Good morning, laura. Caller good morning. Host how are you . Caller i am fine, thank you. How are you . Host doing well. What do you think about this question . Should question be government in paying for a familys medical leave . Caller actually, yeah, i believe that they should. I already feel that people who work parttime do not get enough benefits. And parents in particular, its hard economically to get by. So if youre parttime and you dont get paid during that time, your family is there are distress, and this just adds to it. Theres plenty of money to go around. And i think that, you know, young families should be helped out, especially when a lot of these young people cannot even get fulltime jobs. So theyre already at a disadvantage. Host laura, a couple of the earlier callers, you mentioned the money piece of it, but government is too big, they said, and this is just another reason to stay home, another caller said. How would you react to those folks . Caller well, my last point would be, when we look at other countries and how these other countries take care of their people, i dont think theres enough discussion about comparing the United States to other countries. Were supposed to be such a strong, healthy, wealthy nation, yet, really, are we taking care of our own people . Thats my whole point. Are we taking care of our own . If we look at other countries and whether or not theyre successful in this endeavor, then we should move in that direction. Host ok. Thanks for call. That was laura there from pennsylvania. She mentions other countries. Theres a chart that we found in one of the publications were reading, and they talk about the rest of the world here, and they break this down by color. And in the red, you can see the u. S. Is the only country that doesnt guarantee all of this for people. The only developed country in the world with no federal laws guaranteeing paid partneral leave. And the folks that are doing the most in this area are in blue. It includes parts of europe and russia and canada, you can see. And then the next color down is the orange type color, less than 14 weeks of paid leave. So you can see that map. Well just keep that on the camera just for a second. Again, the red, no family leave , and the blue doing the most around the world. Rick from florida. Good morning, rick. Caller good morning, sir. I couldnt agree more with the last caller, laura. One of the biggest problems that we have is misinformation, and these folks that call in and say that government is too big and that government is interfering with us, the government is us. The government is supposed to represent us. And the problem is, if you try to run the government like a big business, a business is there to do one thing, make a profit. The government cannot do that. The government has to provide services to people and have a heart. If you dont take care of your people, then your country is going to fail. The problem is that we have way too Many Republican ideas out there that have sent all of our jobs overseas. Hats why theres no jobs. They have pretty much put a divider between americans, where were pointing fingers at each other, saying that youre the problem, youre the problem , when, really, the problem is greed. You have to let people have time. And if it were to a business, you would be there all the time working for them. Host rick, thank you for calling. At twitter this morning, jim links together the minimum wage issue, a 15 minimum wage in some places, to this paid family leave issue. Jim writes, the cost of living in new york and San Francisco are sure to rise, somebodys got to pay, writes jim. Here is what Bernie Sanders, the president ial candidate, has had to say about this issue. He spoke about this tuesday after he won wisconsin. Heres a look. Senator sanders people are asking, how does it happen . How does it happen that the United States of america, our great nation, is the only major country on earth not to guarantee paid family and medical leave . [applause] there are women giving birth in wyoming and wisconsin and vermont today where theyre going to have to go back to work in two or three weeks, because they dont have the income to take care of their family, which is why together we are going to pass three months paid family and medical leave. [applause] host on to the national review, San Franciscos new family leave mandate, another barrier to job creation, they write. San francisco is celebrating a new law to require all employers with 20 or more employees to provide six weeks of paid leave time. As i explain in forbes, this certainly will benefit some employees, but it will create real hardship for many others. And carrie lukas says this means lower wages and fewer jobs, as weve heard earlier from the independent womens forum. And they write here that if we want workers to have the compensation packages they want, including higher wages and better benefits, then policy makers should focus on facilitating job creation so that workers have a variety of Employment Opportunities and bosses have to compete to keep them. Unfortunately, this type of employment mandate takes us in the opposite direction and will be another barrier to job creation. You can read that in the national review. Gentleman neen is on the line from new york, a partner. Good morning, janine. Caller good morning. Host what would you like to say . Caller i want to say that its 12 weeks is so basic. I mean, we dont do that already is ridiculous. And i would say that we can pay or this by making everyone pay their fair share. You know, corporations, if theyre paying their fair share into the system, you can afford to do this. Host anything else, janine . Caller thats it. Host all right, thank you. Don in arkansas, good morning, don. Caller good morning, sir. Ive got a solution for this paid family leave. Let the businesses set up a program where they get sick leave and they build up their hours to where they can build up a certain amount of hours, then they can take family sick leave and get paid for it. That is the simple solution to all this problem that i see while watching on this program. Host do you think that would work . Caller that would work. It works for i tell you a business that has it and it works for p