I have recently received a number of emails in the form below urging me to cosponsor the Earned Paid Sick Days bill, a bill which I have cosponsored in the past.
This is a complicated issue. On the one hand, there are strong public health and humanitarian reasons to assure that people can earn paid sick days. On the other hand, small businesses have raised legitimate concerns about early drafts of this bill — in effect, some small business owners would have been compelled to provide benefits that they don’t have access to themselves. However, the bill speaks to an important issue and I am hopeful that a fair compromise approach can finally prevail.
So, yes, I will be cosponsoring this legislation again.
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As your constituent and a member of MomsRising, I am writing to urge you to protect the public health and economic security of our families and our state by signing on to co-sponsor the Earned Paid Sick Time bill. The current flu epidemic sweeping the country has hit Massachusetts hard – as you know, Boston has declared a state of emergency – yet there are one million workers in Massachusetts who cannot take even one sick day when health emergencies strike. Earned paid sick time protects families, businesses and our economy by keeping epidemics at bay, decreasing unemployment, and increasing financial security for Massachusetts’ hard working families.