This year, 14 states and even more cities required employers to provide some form of paid sick leave.

Supporters of the Paid Sick Leave for Nebraskans ballot initiative are hoping voters will add Nebraska to the list in the 2024 election. Women, low-wage earners and workers of color disproportionately lack paid sick leave, and it's more often women who take time off when family members are ill.

Jo Giles, executive director of the Women's Fund of Omaha, an initiative sponsor, said having to balance wanting to be a great employee with caregiving needs at home can be stressful.

"We end up being in this dual role as a caregiver," Giles observed. "Having this flexibility to take time off to care for a loved one and also be able to get your same income level just reduces that burden."

About 250,000 working Nebraskans lack paid sick leave. Under the proposal, employees would accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours of work. Businesses offering benefits equal to or better than this would be exempt, along with union members and state, county and federal employees.

Those opposed to mandatory sick leave claim it leads to layoffs and businesses closing, although studies do not support the claim.

Giles stressed the plan is not about being given time off, but earning it. The law would not go into effect until October 2025.

"That was intentional on our part," Giles explained. "Because we wanted to give businesses ample time to be able to adjust, so that they could implement a process for tracking the time and for accrual, and how all of that would work for their employees."

Rural workers are also less likely to receive paid time off.

Joseline Reyna, a community organizer with the YWCA of Grand Island, another initiative sponsor, said it can be seen in the communities around Grand Island.

"A lot of the people here work in restaurants or different industries, so they don't have the certain criteria that they have to meet with paid time off," Reyna pointed out. "Sometimes it could be harder for the people in our community to get that time off, because of the type of work they're doing."

Lacking paid sick leave can also contribute to people working while they're sick. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found roughly 40% of food poisoning incidents in a two-year period were attributable to sick workers. And during the pandemic, concern rose "frontline" and "essential" workers who lacked sick leave might spread the virus.

Sierra Edmisten, a single working mother of four in Hastings, knows firsthand the struggles of needing time off for a child's medical appointments. She called it "heartbreaking" to be leaving a job she loves because it does not provide paid sick leave, but she is delighted her new job will.

"To have that is probably the most rewarding, beneficial thing I can think of in life," Edmisten asserted. "To be able to focus on my children and not be stressed."

Michigan legislators are tackling predatory lending practices, aiming to set standards for payday loans and maximum interest rates.

In Kent County alone, with a payday loan volume of $60 million, the House Insurance and Financial Services Committee discussed Senate Bill 632, sponsored by Sen. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, which seeks to cap annual interest rates at 36% compared to current rates reaching nearly 400%.

The bill has passed the Senate and is part of a legislative effort including House Bill 5290, sponsored by Rep. Abraham Aiyash, D-Hamtramck.

Dallas Lenear, founder and executive director of Project GREEN, a grassroots economic empowerment network, highlighted concerns about the exploitative nature of these loans.

"Payday loans inevitably are designed in a fashion that is unaffordable for the majority of people who use those loans," Lenear contended.

Lenear pointed out many other states have already capped their interest rate or totally outlawed payday loans because of the financial damage they can cause their citizens and argued it is time for Michigan to do better.

Lenear noted while the payday loan industry believes it offers hope to borrowers in times of need, a study by project GREEN found 78% of respondents said payday loans either prolonged or worsened their financial situation.

"If they've had any experience with it, they'll start to shake their head and they'll say those things are terrible and I was caught in the trap and I would never use those things again. I'd use it out of desperation," Lenear reported.

Advocacy groups such as the Michigan League for Public Policy and the Michigan Catholic Conference testified in support of the bills, to end the predatory practices.

A case before the U.S. Supreme Court could have implications for the country's growing labor movement. Justices will hear oral arguments in Starbucks versus McKinney today to determine if the bar should be raised for the National Labor Relations Board when it seeks to impose court-ordered injunctions on companies.

David Groves, communications director with the Washington State Labor Council, said the Supreme Court could further undermine the power of the NLRB, the independent federal agency that protects employees' rights.

"We already have weak labor laws in this country that have such minor penalties for breaking union organizing laws that companies routinely do it, and this is another opportunity for them to weaken labor laws even further," he argued.

The case involves Starbucks' firing of seven employees in Memphis during their union campaign in 2021. The coffee company says it rehired the workers and denies wrongdoing. If the justices rule in favor of Starbucks, it could make it harder for the NLRB to seek court orders.

Groves said the law states that workers have a right to organize unions in their workplace without coercion or retaliation from their employers.

"That's all fine and good but if the penalty's not significant enough, then they'll just go ahead and break that law and consider it the cost of doing business if they have to pay a fine two years down the road," he explained.

Groves said his and other labor organizations support the passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize or PRO Act in Congress, which would strengthen labor laws, including providing greater authority to the NLRB.


get more stories like this via email

The U.S. House has approved a measure to expand the Child Tax Credit. It would help 16 million children from low-income families in Indiana and nationwide. Despite bipartisan support, the bill is stalled in the Senate. Advocates praise the credit's pivotal role in combating child poverty, pointing to its effectiveness in the past, and especially during the pandemic, when it was broadly expanded.

Candace Baker, an Indianapolis mother of 4, said the previous tax-credit expansion worked for her family, and she wants it reinstated.

"Having a child, and I had to get on some government-assistance programs. My grandmother never did because she just didn't want that stigma over her, but I utilized those services when I had a child. I didn't want to either, but I'm like, I need this support," she explained.

Congress approved expanding the Child Tax Credit in 2021. However, the expansion has expired, leaving families without vital assistance. As the Senate deliberates, pressure mounts on lawmakers to prioritize the needs of struggling families and secure passage. Opponents believe taxpayers who don't work should not be eligible. Some Republicans also contend the provision may incentivize parents to leave the workforce.

Families reeling from the pandemic received between $300 and $360 per month per child from the expanded tax credit. It lifted 3.7 million children from poverty. Baker currently works for a food bank in Indianapolis where she says she is able to help neighbors in need and give back to the community.

"Being able to be a voice for those who have no voice - that is my motto. Even though where you start, you don't have to stay there. So, that is my biggest motto that I stand on: You may start here, you may be on government assistance, you may be in poverty, but that does not have to be your end game," she said.

Families who benefited from the increased aid were more than twice as likely to pay their overdue rent during the initial stages of the pandemic. The Child Tax Credit did not pass in time for this year's tax deadline, and its prospects for the future are uncertain.


get more stories like this via email