A Better Balance, which has been leading the coalition of nearly 50 organizations across health, labor and small business working to get A84 passed, released this statement today:
“After years of advocacy to reform paid medical leave (otherwise known as Temporary Disability Insurance or TDI) in New York and passage in the Senate earlier this session, the current bipartisan Assembly bill has the support of 89 co-sponsors: 78 Democrats—more than two-thirds of the caucus—and 11 Republicans. During an affordability crisis, it is abhorrent to continue capping New Yorkers’ benefit at the 1989 rate of $170 per week for medically-necessary leave. Meanwhile, our neighbors in New Jersey and Connecticut both offer a benefit amount of around $1,000 per week to workers needing paid medical leave, and continue to have thriving economies.
At A Better Balance, we hear from workers across New York state, and no matter what their need for medical leave is—a challenging pregnancy, post-birth recovery time, sudden illness or injury, a cancer diagnosis—each and every one of them are shocked and dismayed at the prospect of living on $170 dollars a week, with no job-protection or continued health insurance coverage.
Every day that this bill is delayed, more New Yorkers are forced to make the impossible choice between their health and their paycheck. Some of these workers stay in the workforce, sacrificing their health to put food on the table.Others, with no other option than to take time off to address serious medical conditions, grapple with mounting debt, housing insecurity, and acute stress, oftentimes leading to worse health outcomes.
In 1949, when the TDI program was first created, New York responded to the health needs of its workforce by creating one of the first medical leave programs in the country. New York again led the way in 2016 when it passed the first paid family leave program. But now, we have fallen unacceptably behind: Fifteen states and counting have paid family and medical programs, and New York ranks dead last among them when it comes to paid medical leave, providing nearly five times less money than the next lowest state.
We call on Speaker Heastie to bring A. 84 to a vote immediately. New York must stop leaving its workers and their families behind in the moments that they need economic stability the most.”
