John,

Just 21% of workers have access to paid family leave provided by their employer.[1] That means when a worker or their loved one gets sick, the vast majority of U.S. workers must choose between taking that needed time off or putting food on the table.

Last week, House Democrats added paid family and medical leave back into the Build Back Better Act, which will soon be voted on. But with opposition from several conservative Democrats, neither paid leave nor Build Back Better are guaranteed to pass the House and Senate.

Write to your members of Congress today and urge them to immediately pass paid family and medical leave. At a time when America’s billionaires have gotten $2.1 trillion richer during the pandemic, we can afford this critical investment when the super-wealthy start paying their fair share in taxes.

Thank you for fighting for a future that includes all of us, not just the wealthy few.

Sarah Christopherson
Legislative and Policy Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund

[1] “Key Facts: Paid Family and Medical Leave,” National Partnership for Women & Families

-- Frank's email --

John,

Last week, House Democrats made a bold statement by including paid family and medical leave in the Build Back Better Act. But that doesn’t mean that this critical provision (or the bill itself) is guaranteed to pass the House and Senate.

We must keep fighting to ensure Build Back Better is as BIG and BOLD as possible, and that means including a paid leave program that will ensure workers don’t need to choose between caring for a loved one and putting food on the table.

Take a second to write to your senators and representative and tell them to pass a strong paid family and medical leave program in the Build Back Better Act.

Did you know that the United States is the only industrialized nation in the world to not offer a national paid leave program for our workers? During the pandemic, this has resulted in millions of parents leaving the workforce to care for children and loved ones, including 3 million women leaving the workforce.[1]

Paid leave will give a boost to our economy and to working families, allowing more people to return to work―while also having the necessary flexibility to care for oneself and one’s family. And, we know we can afford this when the rich and corporations start paying their fair share in taxes.

A 12-week paid leave program has been estimated to cost between $225 billion over 10 years (from President Biden) to $500 billion.[2] And guess how much we can raise by enacting the Billionaires Income Tax: $550 billion.[3] It would require the country’s roughly 700 billionaires to pay taxes on the growth in their assets each year just like workers pay taxes on their wages.

Join Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund and our allies in demanding Congress pass paid family and medical leave in the Build Back Better Act.

Paid leave is not only critical to our economic future, it’s also a political winner with 80% of voters.[4] Write to your members of Congress to demand action!

Together, we’re fighting for investments in our future to lift up millions of working people, paid for by finally making the rich and corporations pay their fair share.

Thank you,

Frank Clemente
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund

[1] “Nearly 3 million U.S. women have dropped out of the labor force in the past year,” CBS News, Feb. 5, 2021

[2] “Biden drops paid family leave from proposed budget bill framework, USAToday, Oct. 28, 2021; “Pricey Paid Leave Proposal Forces Democrats to Fine-Tune Plans, Bloomberg Government, Oct. 20, 2021

[3] “Wyden Statement on Billionaires Income Tax Score,” Senate Finance Committee, Nov. 5, 2021

[4] “Voters' Views on Paid Family + Medical Leave, Findings from a National Survey,” National Partnership for Women & Families, July, 2018