More than two hundred small business owners, working parents, labor leaders, women’s rights activists and other members of the diverse coalition fighting for family-friendly policy advances like paid sick days and family leave insurance are convening in Washington, D.C., next week to celebrate a record year of victories and plan for the year ahead. As Americans across the country are focused on access to quality jobs and improving the economy, groups at the state and local level have been able to win paid sick days for tens of thousands of workers in Connecticut, Seattle and Philadelphia as a policy solution that helps business, families and communities. Energy behind these policies has been growing with strong support from voters across the country and conversations about women and work receiving national attention.

On Tuesday morning, the coalition will honor House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for her leadership in fighting for working women and men across the country. Also speaking will be Senator Tom Harkin, a champion for working families, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and lead Senate sponsor of the Healthy Families Act and the Rebuild America Act, each of which would establish a federal paid sick days standard. The event kicks off a day of meetings with members of Congress from both parties.

The groups will be speaking with their representatives about federal legislation for paid sick days (the Healthy Families Act, H.R. 1876, S. 984), and family leave insurance as well as including a state paid leave fund in next year’s budget. They will also deliver a petition signed by more than 46,000 voters who support a national paid leave program. The Healthy Families Act would prevent 30 million Americans who don’t have paid sick days from being forced to choose between their family’s health and their financial security by establishing a national earned paid sick days standard. The State Paid Leave Fund is a proposed grant program through the Department of Labor that would allow states to develop and implement family leave insurance programs that workers could access following the birth of a child or to care for ailing family members.

WHAT: Award Presentation to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Remarks by Senator Tom Harkin

WHEN: Tuesday, July 10 at 8:30 a.m.

WHO: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
            Senator Tom Harkin
            Small business owners, workers, women’s rights activists and labor leaders from across the country and leading advocates for
            women and families in Washington, D.C.
            National Partnership for Women & Families and Family Values @ Work

WHERE: Hyatt Regency Hotel, Capitol Room 400 New Jersey Avenue, NW