The Children's Defense Fund is proposing a voluntary program that would use state tax money to cover up to 1/3 of the salary of any parent on leave if the employer covers at least another third. If this legislation passes, it could make it much more realistic for parents to take the entire time allotted to them off.
In February 2000, President Clinton said that he would like to expand the act to include twelve week paid vacations for new parents. He proposes allowing states to use excess employment funds paid for by business. The one major drawback of this proposal is that unemployment insurance is paid to states by businesses as a buffer against temporary economic downturn. Using these funds for more general purposes could cause these funds to bankrupt if a recession were to occur. 20 million employees out of an eligible workforce of 92 million have used the act at least once.
Recently, Gov. Gray Davis vetoed a bill that would have allowed employees to use family leave to care for a domestic partner. This bill would have expanded leave to include care for siblings, adult children, and grandparents.
Opposition to the bill stemmed from the possibility that people may apply the bill to care for their homosexual "life partners". Jeff Sheehy, director of Equal Benefits Advocates stated in response to the governor's decision: "He's denying us our basic humanity. He's saying our partners aren't as important as his wife." In a state that has a high homosexual population, this is a move that may play a major role in Gov. Davis' re-election campaign.
As recently as May 10th of this year, the Family Medical & Leave Act has been challenged. Gerard McDavitt, former Vice President of Hill Holliday Connors Cosmopulos, a Boston advertising agency, is suing his former employer for violations under the act. Mr. McDavitt was fired while on leave for cancer treatments and its related depression. The agency claims that McDavitt had taken four weeks more than the act had allowed, and that's why he was fired.
