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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
120 |
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TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
urging the MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE AND THE HAWAII business community to support the establishment of paid family leave in hawaii.
WHEREAS, the increasing number of working adults in the United States has created a greater need for employees to have paid time off when their parents are seriously ill; and
WHEREAS, more than sixty per cent of men and women under the age of fifty-nine think it is likely that in the next ten years they will need to take leave to care for an elderly parent or relative; and
WHEREAS, only fifty-five per cent of employees in the United States are eligible under the federal Family Medical Leave Act for unpaid family leave for certain medical situations; and
WHEREAS, more than seventy-five per cent of employees who needed family leave but did not take it, reported that they could not afford to take the unpaid leave; and
WHEREAS, nine per cent of people who took leave under the federal Family Medical Leave Act used public assistance to help cover the wages lost while on unpaid family leave; and
WHEREAS, paid family leave could reduce the amount of taxpayer money spent on welfare, unemployment compensation, food stamps, and other public programs, by reducing the number of people who must rely on public assistance when taking unpaid leave under the federal Family Medical Leave Act; and
WHEREAS, the estimated cost of paid family leave is relatively low; and
WHEREAS, paid family leave helps employers retain valued employees; ninety-four per cent of employees who took paid leave returned to their same employer after taking leave, compared with approximately seventy-four per cent of those who were partially paid, and seventy-seven per cent of those who were not paid at all; and
WHEREAS, a large number of people support using disability insurance to provide partial wages when people need to take leave from work to care for a seriously ill parent; and
WHEREAS, seventy per cent of Republicans, eighty-seven per cent of Democrats, and seventy-nine per cent of Independents support expanding the federal Family Medical Leave Act; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, the Senate concurring, that members of the Legislature and the business community in Hawaii are urged to support the establishment of paid family leave in Hawaii; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the Senate; the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations, who in turn is requested to transmit copies to the Executive Director of the Hawaii Business Roundtable; the President of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii; the State Director of NFIB Hawaii; the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Small Business Hawaii; the President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 142; the Presidents of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Locals 1186, 1260, and 1357; the President of the Teamsters, Local 996; the Presidents of the Iron Workers Union, Locals 625, 742, and 803; and the President of Unite Here, Local 5.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Legislature and Hawaii Business Community; Support Paid Family Leave in Hawaii