Senate Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly stands in the way of a Democratic effort to extend federal paid sickness and family leave benefits that expire at the end of the year, potentially depriving tens of millions of Americans of key emergency relief and making the nation an effective tool in the fight against Covid-19.
Democratic lawmakers seek extension of paid time off programs in $ 900 billion coronavirus aid package currently under negotiation, but Buzzfeed reported late Friday that McConnell is leading the Republican effort to get the provisions to lapse.
“Democrats initially tried to broaden and expand the scope of the program”, Buzzfeed noted. “Those targets were lowered to extend the program for several more months due to Republican opposition, said a Senate aide. Now the Republicans led by McConnell are completely opposed to an extension of the program.”
Passed in March as part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), the paid sick leave and leave programs have helped prevent thousands of coronavirus cases per day despite their severe limitations; Before the benefits were approved, Republicans made sure that companies with 500 or more employees were not required to provide them to employees exposed to or infected with Covid-19.
“There is absolutely no reason and no excuse not to renew the life-saving and bipolar leave policies already on the books,” said Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Author of an amendment that would have expanded the paid time off benefits for all US employees and independent contractors Buzzfeed.
Murray said that “anything less” than an extension of current benefits “makes absolutely no sense and would be a disaster for millions of workers who would not have to choose between their health or their salary.”
There is absolutely no reason and no excuse not to renew the life-saving and bipartisan time off policy already on the books. Anything less would be a disaster for millions of workers who would not have to choose between their health or their salary. https://t.co/yWAoYg57D1
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– Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) December 18, 2020
The federal paid sick and family leave benefits are among the dozens of emergency relief programs that expire at the end of the year without action from Congress.
The Washington Post reported that the paid time off benefits “are not part of the approximately $ 900 billion aid package that White House officials and congressional negotiators are finalizing, although some lawmakers hope they can still find a way to expand the program.”
“It’s not that paid sick leave for working-class people exposed to Covid is no longer necessary: At least 3,406 Americans died of Covid Thursday” Post noticed. “The nation again reported the highest number of deaths, hospitalizations and new infections in one day yesterday: 252,431 new cases were confirmed and hospital admissions are up 6.7 percent over the past week.”
Vicki Shabo, a senior fellow at New America who specializes in paid time off, warned On Friday, failure to renew the soon-to-be-expiring benefits would have devastating consequences, urging people to call their representatives.
“More cases, lost jobs, lost lives,” Shabo wrote. “Let’s not leave this alone.”