Clinton Proposes Big Grants for Family Leave

By PATRICK HEALY
New York Times

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday proposed giving $1 billion in grants to states that enact paid family leave laws and said that she would support requiring employers to provide workers seven days’ annual paid sick leave.

Mrs. Clinton, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, also called for expanding the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which protects the jobs of workers who take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. The law covers businesses with more than 50 workers. Mrs. Clinton would lower that to 25, covering an additional 13 million people, her campaign said.

The ideas are the latest parts of Mrs. Clinton’s strategy to cement women as the cornerstone of her support, but her call for an expanded federal role in labor activities drew fire from business leaders, who called her proposals onerous.

Business representatives said state laws on paid leaves were often so broad that they risked abuses like demands for paid leaves for minor health concerns. In addition, the federal law on unpaid leave continues to concern some critics because some workers take leaves with short notice or are difficult to replace.

I guess Hillary's '08 strategy is just to buy as many votes as she can. She might as well just cut everybody a check.