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Coalition “Rallies” in Support of the FAMILY Act

| Dec 17, 2013

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More than 400 organizations in all 50 states have joined together to push for passage of the Family And Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act, a new federal proposal to ensure working people have access to some income during a family or medical leave. To mark the bill’s introduction last week, and to urge Congress to prioritize its passage, coalition members published blog posts, issued press statements, wrote op-eds and more. Below are highlights.

The press also heralded the bill’s introduction. Check out these pieces at the New York Times’ Motherlode and The New Old Age blogs, E.J. Dionne’s column in the Washington Post, the Washington Post’s On Parenting blog, MSNBC’s The Cycle and Salon.

Coalition Blog, Statement and Op-Ed Highlights:

9to5, National Association of Working Women
Paid Leave Keeps Women in Their Jobs and That’s Good for the Economy #FAMILYAct (MomsRising)

A Better Balance
The FAMILY Act: A Long Overdue Investment in Our Families

AFL-CIO
Paid Family Leave: We Shouldn’t Have to Choose Between Our Families and Our Jobs

American Association of University Women
Making Work Work: We Need Paid Family and Medical Leave

American Sustainable Business Council 
Policy Points: Policies for a Sustainable Workforce (TriplePundit)

Center for Economic and Policy Research
Can Paid Family Leave Increase Men’s Participation in Parenting?
Why America Needs Paid Parental Leave

Center for Law and Social Policy
Only 4 Percent of the Lowest-Wage Workers Get Paid Family Leave: Could a New Law Change This? (YES! Magazine)
Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Law Would Help Employers Do Good and Do Well

Demos
The New Push for Paid Family Leave (The American Prospect)

Direct Care Alliance
Direct Care Alliance Applauds Federal Paid Leave Legislation
How the FAMILY Act Will Help Direct Care Workers, Their Clients, and Our Economy (MomsRising)

EMILY’s List
Women Working for Working Women (Huffington Post)

Family Equality Council
Paid Sick Leave Bill Introduced in the House and Senate

Family Values @ Work Coalition
These 2 Adorable Children Are Excellent Reasons To Pass A No-Brainer Law (Upworthy)
Value Families with the FAMILY Act

Feminist Majority
Feminist Majority Celebrates Introduction of Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act (FAMILY Act)

Human Rights Watch
Dispatches: How Congress Can Deliver for Working Families

Institute for Women’s Policy Research
Bridging the Gap: Bringing the Benefits of Paid Family Leave to American Workers #FAMILYAct

Mi Familia Vota
Mi Familia Vota Applauds Federal Paid Leave Bill to Help Working Families

MomsRising
The FAMILY Act – Stitching Up a Hole in the Safety Net

National Council of Jewish
Women NCJW Welcomes Introduction of the Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act

National Partnership for Women & Families
Being family friendly takes more than words (The Hill)
Take It From Moms: America’s Families Need the FAMILY Act (MomsRising)
The FAMILY Act is Badly Needed to Update the Outdated Workplace Policies That Are Hurting America’s Families 
The FAMILY Act—Legislation the Nation Needs Now (Working Mother)

National Women’s Law Center
America’s Scarlet Letter
Support When It’s Needed Most: The FAMILY Act

Paid Family Leave California
Paid Family Leave Makes a Difference to Low Income Families

SEIU
FAMILY Act Would Help Working Families

UFCW
UFCW Urges Congress to Pass FAMILY Act ASAP

Working Mother
FAMILY Act to Be Introduced to Congress; Paid Leave on the Agenda

About the Author

Vicki Shabo

Vicki Shabo

Vicki Shabo is vice president at the National Partnership for Women & Families and is one of the nation's leading experts on paid family and medical leave, paid sick days and the workplace policy advocacy landscape. She previously served for more than four years as the organization's director of work and family programs. Shabo is responsible for the strategic direction of the National Partnership’s work to promote fair and family friendly workplaces and leads the organization’s work on paid family and medical leave, paid sick days, expansion and enforcement of the Family and Medical Leave Act, workplace flexibility, fair pay and pregnancy discrimination. She serves as a contact on workplace policy issues for key national allies, researchers, businesses and state and local advocates and has been quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, USA Today, CNN and MSNBC, among other outlets.

Shabo brings a unique background in law and politics to her work: Prior to joining the National Partnership in 2010, she practiced law in the litigation department at WilmerHale, a large international law firm. Before embarking on a legal career, she worked with both Celinda Lake and Harrison Hickman, serving as a pollster and political strategist to political candidates, ballot campaigns, advocacy organizations and media outlets. Through this work, she developed research and communications expertise on issues of particular concern to women. Shabo's earlier professional experience includes a stint with the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee.

Shabo graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in politics and American studies from Pomona College, and holds a Master of Arts in political science from the University of Michigan. She earned her law degree with high honors from the University of North Carolina, where she served as editor in chief of the North Carolina Law Review. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Michael R. Murphy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Salt Lake City.