According to 9News.com, Senate Bill 21 passed through committee today on a party-line vote. The bill would require employers to give employees the option to take unpaid leave to attend activities that their children are participating in, such as sports or school plays. Up to 40 hours a year would be available, though employers would be allowed to restrict the maximum leave at any one time to 2 1/2 hours.
What's interesting about the passage is that Democrats voted for it and Republicans did not. According to 9News, "House Minority Leader, Joe Stengel, said the proposal was "feel good" legislation that would ultimately harm the business climate in Colorado."
We know we're going to get angry responses from Republicans on this one, but we're just pointing out the obvious. For a party that touts "family values" as its biggest selling point, it's pretty clear that when push comes to shove, business takes priority over family. This is a bill that, let's face it, isn't going to seriously damage companies in Colorado; yes, we understand the arguments over productivity and all that, but at the end of the day most employees aren't going to take all of this time, and 40 hours out of an entire year is not a huge deal. Nine other states have passed similar legislation, and capitalism hasn't fallen as a result.
And what's wrong with "feel good" legislation anyway? Isn't government FOR the people? Shouldn't the legislature TRY to help out Colorado families?
The problem with this bill is that there is no need for it to exist. If a parent wishes to take unpaid leave to attend a child's event, then discuss it with the employer and something could be worked out. This now mandates that employees are allowed to take a certain amount of time. You don't think this will be abused like sick leave is when people aren't actually sick? Sure the dollar amount isn't huge and it won't likely hurt business too much, but what is the point of this piece of legislation
Posted by: Napoleon | February 01, 2005 at 10:41 AM
Here's a question for you, Napolean: Do you think a majority of people in Colorado would appreciate legislature like this, or do you think they would oppose it?
Posted by: Gringo | February 04, 2005 at 01:44 PM
A lot of Americans aren't going to rely on social security benefits in their retirement, so what's the point of worrying about the system? Plenty of Americans already have health care, so why bother with it? If you passed a voucher program, lots of parents wouldn't use it - so why do it?
You can't legislate for or against that segment of the population that will abuse a new law or will not use it. You try to do what you think will be most beneficial in the long run - for the majority.
And if you are going to use the argument that some people will abuse it, then you also have to include the counter-argument that a lot of people won't use it at all.
Sure, employees could negotiate with their boss to get some time off to see their kids, but what if the boss says no? The potential for good in this bill far outweighs the potential for bad, and to go on record opposing a bill that helps families shows the true colors of someone like Joe Stengel.
Posted by: Alva Adams | February 04, 2005 at 01:58 PM
I am office mgr small business & think parental leave bill discriminates against employees that were unable to have children or no children in school, or single, because they are the ones that have to pick up the work that employees with children would be doing. Lot of businesses have only minimal employees and will hurt not having those employees there.
Posted by: Judy Samp | February 15, 2005 at 06:48 AM
Let us be honest!
Napolean is 100% right -- you work it out with your boss -- unlike family leave legislation no one is clammering for this silliness -- it is merely a bunch of Democrats who are too chickenshit to pass laws protecting Gays from Hate crimes or discrimination in the work place -- who are too chickenshit to raise the state's minimum wage which would actually benefit workers -- it is unnecessary -- almost stupid but most of all totally cowardly
Posted by: vladimir | February 15, 2005 at 10:08 AM
I completely support Senate Bill 21 which would require employers to give employees the option to take unpaid leave to attend activities that their children are participating in. Employees should not have to "work something out" with their employer to spend time attending such activities with their children. I can see it now; the employer will of course want to insist that the employee arrange to make up the time, which means the parent pays a price for attending the activity with their child. The fact that this kind of legislation even generates controversy says a lot about America. Many Americans talk a lot about values, but what really matters, bottom line, is money, business, and capitalism.
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