Republican Delegate Kirk Cox (Colonial Heights), soon to be Speaker of the House of the House of Delegates, is proposing a bill that would give all full time employees in the General Assembly 12 weeks of paid leave following the birth or adoption of a child. He would also support extending this benefit to all state employees. (Isn’t he generous with our money? Or does he, like so many Democrats, consider our money to be his money?)
From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
“As a society, we have to do more to strengthen families and encourage women to remain in the workplace,” Cox, whom House Republicans named as “speaker-designee” earlier this year, said in a prepared statement.
From the Washington Post:
“Family is the bedrock of our society, and there’s nothing more important to a family than those first few months at home as they welcome and share joyous moments with their new child,” Cox said. “As a society, we have to do more to strengthen families and encourage women to remain in the workplace. Strong parental leave policies improve morale and reduce turnover, two things critical in public sector workplaces.”
This would give Virginia the most generous family leave plan for public employees in the nation. The federal government allows employees to use sick leave, earned annual leave, and borrowing sick leave from other employees.
More from the Times-Dispatch:
Currently, state employees looking to take time off can use accrued personal leave, sick leave or short-term disability, a policy Cox called “inadequate.”
“No mother or father should have to use accrued benefits, which they may need at another point, to care for their child and live out the joys of parenthood,” Cox said.
Why shouldn’t state employees use accrued benefits, just as the federal employees do, when they choose to have or adopt a baby? Does Virginia really need to have the most generous family leave plan in the nation? Where might the money come from to pay for this plan? Is the Speaker-elect trying to compete with Democrats in his generosity with our money?
