H.R. 5873

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Please sign on in support of Family Leave Insurance Act!
 

Dear Friends,
Representatives Pete Stark, Carolyn Maloney, George Miller, and Lynn Woolsey have introduced a new, comprehensive paid leave program: H.R. 5873, The Family Leave Insurance Act of 2008. Please join us in supporting the bill by signing on to the letter of support. The legislation is similar to the bill introduced in the Senate last year by Senators Dodd and Stevens, but the House version offers expanded coverage and benefits.
We have drafted a letter in support of the bill and encourage all to sign on. Please email or call Steffany Stern to sign on to the letter (sstern@nationalpartnership.org or 202-238-4881). If you are interested in receiving more information on the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill, please contact us.
Overview of the Family Leave Insurance Act:

* Provides up to 12 weeks of paid leave for workers who need time off to care for a new child, a seriously ill family member, or to recover from their own serious illness.
* Expands the definition of family to include domestic partners, grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings.
* Covers all employees who have paid into the system for at least six months; also covers part-time employees, defined as workers employed for at least 625 hours per year (or around 20 hours per week).
* Creates a "Family Leave Insurance Fund," funded by premiums paid by both employers and workers, equal to 0.2% of each worker's earnings.
* Benefits are progressively tiered based on income:

* 100% of weekly earnings to $20,000
* 75% of weekly earnings to $30,000
* 55% of weekly earnings for $30,001-$60,000
* 45% of weekly earnings for $60,001-$97,000

* Job protection provided for FMLA-eligible workers.
* Employers or states with equivalent or more generous benefits may opt out of the program.

We applaud our allies in the U.S. House of Representatives for their commitment to working families, and we look forward to working with all of you as we support their efforts in the upcoming months. 
Thanks,
Kate, Rachna, Sharyn, and Steffany
Work and Family Team
National Partnership for Women & Families
<http://www.nationalpartnership.org/site/PixelServer?j=eRgzLvzXtzkE8uxtiDl4-Q..>

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Barbara Walters - as a Sib

NEW YORK ‹ After three decades of keeping mum, Barbara Walters is disclosing
a past affair with married U.S. Senator Edward Brooke, whom she remembers as
"exciting" and "brilliant."

Appearing on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" scheduled to air Tuesday, Walters
shares details of her relationship with Brooke that lasted several years in
the 1970s, according to a transcript of the show provided to The Associated
Press.

A moderate Republican from Massachusetts who took office in 1967, Brooke was
the first African-American to be popularly elected to the Senate. Both he
and Walters knew that public knowledge of their affair could have ruined his
career as well as hers, Walters says.

At the time, the twice-divorced Walters was a rising star in TV news and
co-host of NBC's "Today" show, but would soon jump to ABC News, where she
has enjoyed unrivaled success. Her affair with Brooke, which never before
came to light, had ended before he lost his bid for a third term in 1978.

Brooke later divorced, and has since remarried. Calls to a listing for
Brooke in Miami by The Associated Press were not immediately returned
Thursday.

Walters is the guest of Oprah Winfrey to discuss her new memoir, "Audition,"
which covers her long career in television, as well as her off-camera life.
On "Oprah," Walters recounts a phone call from a friend who urged her to
stop seeing Brooke.

"He said, 'This is going to come out. This is going to ruin your career,'"
then reminded her that Brooke was up for re-election a year later. "'This is
going to ruin him. You've got to break this off.'"

Winfrey asks Walters if she was in love.

"I was certainly _ I don't know _ I was certainly infatuated."

"Infatuated."

"I was certainly involved," Walters says. "He was exciting. He was
brilliant. It was exciting times in Washington."

Also during the program, Walters chokes up while describing the struggles of
her older sister Jackie, who was mentally retarded. Walters confesses that,
as a child, she sometimes felt embarrassed by Jackie.

"She stuttered terribly. People made fun of her. People made fun of me,"
Walters says. "I didn't bring friends home. I felt terribly guilty because
she was very loving and I didn't always feel that way."

Jackie Walters died in 1985 of ovarian cancer.

"When I think of her, because she was beautiful and loving and all of that,
it makes me cry."