The U.S. Conference of Mayors this week formally adopted a resolution to support Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act (S.786), which was introduced by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Mayor Ed Lee from San Francisco. This resolution urges other cities and states to follow New York’s lead after Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a comprehensive parental leave policy for city employees in January.
“No parent should be forced to choose between taking care of their child and getting their paycheck,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “I applaud Senator Gillibrand for introducing this common-sense policy and thank the U.S. Conference of Mayors for their support. Together we can make for healthier and more financially secure working families across the nation.”
With a bipartisan resolution, the conference urged Congress to pass legislation providing national paid family leave to working families and encouraged cities and states across the country to implement local laws or actions – like New York City’s – requiring paid leave for new parents.
“I’m grateful to Mayor de Blasio for his leadership on Paid Family and Medical Leave, and to the entire Conference of Mayors for supporting this measure that would help families and employers across the country,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “We are the only industrialized nation in the world that does not have some form of paid leave. It’s an artificial drag on our economy, and we need to continue to push to make paid leave a reality in this country so both families and businesses don’t have to suffer when a new child is born or a loved one gets sick.”
Mayor de Blasio’s support of the resolution is in line with his administration’s larger efforts to expand paid parental leave. In 2015, New York City became one of the leading cities in the country for paid parental leave when Mayor de Blasio signed an Executive Order providing six weeks of paid time off for maternity, paternity, adoption and foster care leave at 100 percent salary for its 20,000 managerial and original jurisdiction employees. The administration is also working with its municipal unions to extend the benefit to their members.
