New Jersey Citizen Action calls on Van Drew, Gottheimer to support FAMILY Act
New Jersey Citizen Action calls on Van Drew, Gottheimer to support FAMILY Act
New Jersey Citizen Action today released the following statement calling on Democratic Representatives Jeff Van Drew (NJ-2nd) and Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5th) to support the FAMILY Act, which would guarantee workers throughout the U.S. 12 weeks paid family and medical leave. The federal bill, with pending strengthening amendments, would offer similar benefits to what New Jersey offers through its state Family Leave and Temporary Disability Insurance programs. Van Drew and Gottheimer remain the only New Jersey Congressmen not to have signed on as co-sponsors for the bill, despite a growing national movement for paid family leave for all.
“Today, with the launch of the Paid Leave for All campaign, we call on Representatives Van Drew and Gottheimer to add their support to the FAMILY Act,” said Yarrow Willman-Cole, Workplace Justice Director for New Jersey Citizen Action. “New Jersey continues to lead the paid family leave movement; our Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo testified today before the House Oversight Committee on the need for comprehensive national paid family and medical leave. And that momentum continues to build. Congress just reached a landmark agreement that would guarantee federal civilian employees access to paid parental leave for the first time.
“The FAMILY Act is bipartisan legislation signed by Representative Chris Smith (NJ-4th), the first Republican to do so. With the glaring exception of two of our Representatives, we are proud of our New Jersey Congresspeople who have signed on in support and who truly understand what paid family leave means for our state’s workers and their families. We urge Van Drew and Gottheimer and all of Congress to support the FAMILY Act, so every American worker has access to comprehensive paid family leave when they need to care for a loved one.”
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New Jersey Citizen Action is a statewide advocacy and social service organization that fights for social, racial and economic justice for all while also meeting the pressing needs of low and moderate income New Jerseyans through education and direct service.
