And most of all proud of what we fight for all the time. So to pull off a win that's long overdue, it's a very sweet feeling. It's hard to remember a day this happy in Trenton.
It's been a long time since the atmosphere in Trenton was this positive, especially concerning Family Medical Leave Insurance.
In addition to the panel vote this morning (update!! 2pm, bill passes Labor panel! DEMS vote yay, GOP -- sans Singer, who abstains -- votes Nay.) the focus is on Monday's Senate floor vote. So it's entirely possible that these pro-family measures will be a done deal before summer solstice. Which just might mean NJ workers won't have to choose between a paycheck and a sick child for much longer.
Today is a baby step. The real battle is Monday, March 3 when the full senate take a vote.
My recent post on Family Medical Leave has brought out all of the ideologically-blinded conservative concern trolls. As is typical, they want to argue ideology instead of either morality or anything that approaches reality.
The problem with conservative ideology is that it believes that an organization made up of people called "government" is incapable of exercising good judgment or in accomplishing anything positive. But if you call those people "business", they are magically able to make the best decisions and are damn near infallible - despite the lengthy history of market failures that have periodically cast our country into dire economic straits. In other words, instead of trying to work out the times and ways that government works and the times and ways that business works, they slip on their rose-colored blinders and pronounce their ideologically-driven assumptions as facts.
This allows me to inflict some country music on you:
The Senate Budget Committee just voted on the Senate bill # S786, the Family Medical Leave act. By a vote of 8 to 5 the bill was released to the full Senate.
Here's how the breakdown looked from my vantage point.
While I am waiting for the Family Medical Leave hearing to begin I am gonna cruise down State Street and catch a press conference to hear what the New Jersey Women for Obama have to say.
The polls suggest that Hillary Clinton has a solid lead in New Jersey for now, but the battle goes on for another week and I reckon it's gonna be a hard fought one until the end.
Anyway women from both houses and from the old and new guard will be on hand to offer up their support for Obama. And as an honorary Obama Girl I am definitely obliged to check that out!!
Fortunately the presser is right across the street from the statehouse (at the NJDSC offices) so I won't miss much of the Budget Committee stuff.
Randon musing: Senator Turner is rumored to vote NO on family leave in the Senate budget committee. But she'll be down the road at the Obama presser. They both kick off at the same time. Not sure if there's enough Shirley to go around, but maybe I can distract her until the vote is over?
*THE FIRST STEP IS TODAY (Monday)! Weighed in yet?*
If we don't rise up against the onslaught from the big business lobby, we will miss the opportunity to enact family medical leave here in New Jersey.
So far the campaign to allow workers to take up to 6 weeks off with half-pay to have a baby or care for a sick relative has been a tough slog. The progressive side has been thoroughly out gunned by our richer more ruthless rivals.
SO I ask you Blue Jersey to call your reps and tell them how you feel. Doesn't matter if you think they might vote for it so why bother. This time it's important to go ahead and make the call, email, or fax.
After that send this video to every progressive you know in NJ and tell them to do the same. Share it with your friends, networks, and newslists. Put it on your blog or your website and try to help rally the troops.
Otherwise we miss the chance to enact the most pro-family, pro-worker legislation in a generation. It's not about waiting for the next opportunity to make this happen. It's been too long a wait already.
UPDATE!!It's 12:28 and the final count is in. The bill was released to the full Senate by a vote of eight to six.
(Trenton)-- The Committee is getting ready to take up the issue of family leave and temporary disability. Sens. Sweeney and Buono sponsored the bill.
But first they are voting to release Sen. Sarlo's digital media bill to the full Senate. Which just easily passed.
Now onto family leave (aka Senate bill #S2249)..... Sweeney opens by noting the US is the only nation in the western world that doesn't make allowances for workers to take leave to care for ailing members of their family. Or to have a baby
This bill, according to Sweeney, is "to protect families" with (ten weeks) paid leave to care for a newborn or to look after a sick relative. (For especially difficult pregnancies, workers would be given up to 26 weeks.) More soon......
(updates below the fold)
