Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida on Friday called for expanding the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, a 1993 law that was one of the first initiatives of President Bill Clinton in his first term
Posted on 09/26/2015 5:11:09 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
By
J. Taylor Rushing, , U.s. Political Reporter In Washington
Published: 09:01 EST, 25 September 2015 | Updated: 10:15 EST, 25 September 2015
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Sen. Marco Rubio on Friday called for expanding the 1993 Family & Medical Leave Act - a central part of President Bill Clinton's initial agenda upon taking office - to allow more American parents to spend more time with their families in need.
Speaking at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C., Rubio said he wants to shore up the 23-year-old law because it has grown 'insufficient' for modern times.
Rubio reminded the audience that his parents were both born to poor families in Cuba, and only came to America after their marriage in 1956.
'One of the reasons I am so privileged is that I was born to two parents who were able to be a constant presence in the lives of their children,' Rubio said.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida on Friday called for expanding the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, a 1993 law that was one of the first initiatives of President Bill Clinton in his first term
Rubio wants to offer businesses a 25 percent tax credit for offering employees paid leave instead of unpaid time off
'This was an enormous advantage for me growing up. And that’s why now that I’m a parent, I struggle with the demands of the public life that I’ve chosen.'
'It pains me anytime I have to miss a volleyball practice or a football game or a field trip because of work.'
'This struggle is not unique to me. It’s a problem that almost every parent in America faces.'
The Family & Medical Leave Act currently requires employers offer 12 weeks of unpaid leave to workers with family or health issues, such as a new-born child or an elderly parent.
Rubio said that has become 'insufficient because taking unpaid leave is simply not a viable financial option for many Americans.'
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, was elected Florida House speaker while in his 20s and is running for president in his first term in the Senate
His plan would offer business a limited, 25 percent, non-refundable tax credit if they offer employees four to 12 weeks of paid leave instead of unpaid leave.
If an employee is offered $1,600 in paid leave for a four-week period of leave, for example, their employer could claim a $400 tax credit.
Paying for the plan by raising taxes or increasing 'crippling' requirements on the private sector, Rubio said, is 'outdated' thinking supported by Democrats.
'This won’t solve every scheduling conflict between work and family life,' Rubio said. No policy can.'
'But it will help ensure that our people don’t have to sit behind a desk while the most profound moments of their lives pass them by.'
How about getting the government the hell out of the equation altogether.
It’s too bad that most Republicans are Democrats.
Mario is a Democrat. End of story.
Get the federal government out of the economy.
I’m about as tired of hearing his “poor immigrant boy” stories as I am hearing about Jeb’s Hispanics wife’s opinions on immigration.
This not “America’s Got Talent” where the contestants personal backstory is considered as much, or more, than the actual talent.
I managed to work for 45 years and get four kids to little league, school, and other activities, before FMLA was ever a thought.
Employers have enough government hoops to jump through without being a daycare center for their employees.
Sounds like someone is getting desperate. Hitting the panic button.
How would the Family & Medical Leave Act help any parent with ball games and field trips?
Another unfunded mandate from the feral government.
More specifically, regardless of the unreasonably broad interpretation of the Commerce Clause (1.8.3) by FDR’s activist justices in Wickard v. Filburn, a previous generation of state sovereignty respecting justices had clarified the following. Using health laws as an example, the the Court had clarified that the states have never delegated to the feds, expressly via the Constitution the specific powers to regulate intrastate commerce, intrastate healthcare, or family issues.
”State inspection laws, health laws, and laws for regulating the internal commerce of a State, and those which respect turnpike roads, ferries, &c. are not within the power granted to Congress [emphases added].” —Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
It reasonably follows that the feds have no constitutional authority to do what Rubio envisions. If voters want such job benefits then they need to work with their state lawmakers to make appropriate taxing and spending laws.
The ill-conceived 17th Amendment needs to disappear and low-information senators who don’t protect their states as the Founding States had intended for the Senate to do along with it.
I know from personal experience how difficult it is to juggle work and family obligations on occasion but this is just another straw to break the camel’s back for employers. I wonder if anyone in Congress has a clue as to what it costs us in terms of hard taxpayer dollars for all government employees non-productive hours.
But they have those snappy R jerseys.........
The feral government seems to be of the opinion that anyone stupid enough to create a job for another human being deserves to be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
The more Rubio talks, the more RHINO he seems to be.
Rubio is getting really good at pissing off fiscal conservatives.
He should run with this whole “family paid leave for volleyball games” rhetoric and finish his political suicide.
Does Rubio really think we’re stupid?
He and other RINOs complain about government getting too big and stifling the free market. In the next breath, they offer a silly little tax gimmick that will make big government even bigger.
No wonder that outsiders Trump, Carson and Fiorina are leading in the polls.
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