skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina s congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Myorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Caregivers, Advocates Call for Passage of Family-Leave Insurance

play audio
Play

Monday, December 28, 2015   

ALBANY, N.Y. - Advocates and caregivers are calling on the state to pass legislation that would allow New Yorkers to take paid time off from work to care for family members. A bill to extend the state's temporary disability insurance program to include paid family leave has passed the Assembly, but didn't clear the Senate.

Bill Ferris, New York state legislative representative for AARP, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo needs to take a leadership role in getting a family-leave insurance bill through the Legislature in the coming year.

"This will undoubtedly help those people caring to their loved ones at home," he said. "Not only will it help them, but it will help all of us as taxpayers to keep the elderly people in their homes and out of costly institutional care here in New York."

Family-leave insurance would allow workers to take up to 12 weeks at partial pay each year to care for an aging parent, newborn child or sick family member.

Tracy Murphy of Syracuse needed to take time off after her mother had major surgery. She needed to help her with everyday tasks such as grocery shopping and preparing food, and to find someone to take over when she couldn't be there.

"All of those things add to the stress of your everyday life," she said, "and it's just impossible, I think, at least in the initial stages, to try to caregive and also work full time."

A 2011 study found that, on average, family caregivers lose more than $300,000 in wages, pensions and Social Security benefits by taking unpaid time off.

Advocates say paid family leave benefits employers, too, through increased productivity and having skilled workers who return to their jobs. According to Ferris, passing a family-leave insurance bill in New York would not impose a burden on taxpayers.

"What we're saying is, use the existing structure that we have in government now and add to that," he said, "so, like an employee pays for temporary disability insurance now, the employee would pay for the family leave."

New Jersey, Rhode Island and California all have passed paid family-leave legislation, and it is included as an employee benefit at some major corporations.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021