There are almost 200,000 Mainers caring for family members at home — over $2 billion of benefit to their communities.

Of those who are lower wage workers, two thirds get no paid leave to do this, while almost 100% of those with higher wages receive some paid leave. Mainers with newborns, with parents whose health is failing, with children or spouses who’ve been injured, with illness or injury themselves, are going into credit card debt to make ends meet.

Like the Good Samaritan who paid the innkeeper to care for his injured neighbor, we can pool our resources to take care of our neighbors and ourselves, by establishing paid family medical leave for all Maine workers. We are the only wealthy nation that does not ensure that all workers have financial support when they or a loved one is in need of care. Maine can establish a statewide program to provide this vital support.

This safety net — the security it provides to Mainers and their families — is crucial to our communities’  economic well-being, as well to supporting workers with dignity and respect for the contributions they make as employees.  Paid leave helps small businesses retain workers they have trained, and to increase productivity by preventing the spread of illnesses when workers come in sick.

With workers and employers each contributing half of 1% of wages into a fund to pool our resources, L.D. 1964 would establish this long-needed benefit for the security of Maine families.

Peg Hoffman, Lewiston