“We strongly believe this is the right thing to do,” said Vicki Shabo, vice president of the National Partnership for Women & Families in Washington, D.C., which supports the Democrats’ bill. “Why should some people have this benefit and not others based on where they live or the job they have, when it’s clear everyone needs it?”

“This is a truly groundbreaking victory for working families and a powerful model for the nation,” Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, which advocates for paid family and medical leave, said in a statement.

Vicki Shabo, vice president for the National Partnership for Women & Families, said in a letter to The Hill, a U.S. political website, the measure would actually give workers less flexibility and take money from the hands of working people by giving them “a false and dangerous choice between overtime pay now and time off later.”

“More than three in four people who take leave in this country do so to recover from serious illness or injuries, or to care for a seriously ill or injured parent, spouse, child or relative,” said National Partnership President Debra Ness.

“We are thrilled that the country has moved on to this new chapter in the national paid leave debate. Consensus about the problem creates a historic opportunity to advance solutions … The country will benefit if this is the beginning of real dialogue among people and organizations that care about finding a real solution,” write National Partnership President Debra Ness and Vice President Vicki Shabo.

“The best workplaces — like Deloitte — will ask their employees what their workforce needs to be happier and more productive,” says Vicki Shabo, vice president at the National Partnership for Women & Families.

“You end up with this perfect storm where workplace and public policies are mismatched to what the workforce and families need,” said Vicki Shabo, vice president at the non-partisan National Partnership for Women & Families.

The [National Partnership] is a heavy lifter when it comes to campaigning for more substantial health care coverage including workplace benefits like paid sick leave, eliminating the gender pay gap and ending discrimination against pregnant women and new moms in the office.

“When a pregnancy is relatively typical, uncomplicated, it’s difficult for employees to be granted simple requests such as more frequent bathroom breaks or to carry a water bottle,” said Vicki Shabo, vice president at the National Partnership for Women & Families.