Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) had her first child while serving in the House of Representatives in 2014. Four years later, she became the first sitting senator to give birth while in office.
“It was not until I became a mom and was traveling back and forth to Illinois twice a week and trying to pump breast milk for my baby that I realized there were no lactation rooms I could use in the airport,” Duckworth told HuffPost. “I was told, ‘Well, you can plug your breast pump in next to where those guys are charging their phones.’”
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The U.S. tends to lag behind other developed countries when it comes to progressive, family-friendly policies. One law that Duckworth says desperately needs some bolstering is the of U.S. workers do not qualify for unpaid leave under the FMLA. Of those who do take leave under the law, roughly half step away from work due to their own health issues, according to Labor Department data. The leave is typically short: More than three-quarters of workers take two months or less.
“These are your lunch ladies, these are your janitors, these are your bus drivers, and they don’t qualify.”
– Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.)
Duckworth said expanding protections to school support workers is not only morally right but makes for smart public policy, considering school staffing shortages. School districts have struggled to hang on to bus drivers, cafeteria workers and other employees as COVID-19 took a toll on the workforce and the labor market tightened.
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In a federal survey released last year, 60% of U.S. principals said they were having a hard time filling non-teaching positions at their schools.
“You see where folks were not able to take time or have access to FMLA to take care of a loved one during the pandemic,” Duckworth said. “Consequently, many of these workers have quit to go find other jobs where they could qualify for it, or they made the tough decision of stopping work. And we don’t want to lose that workforce.”
Duckworth’s bill did not make it out of committee last time. Neither did a companion bill introduced by Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) in the House.
Democrats haven’t had much success pursuing more aggressive reforms to the FMLA, either. While controlled by Democrats, the House passed a bill to create a paid leave program funded through a corporate minimum tax and administered through the Social Security Administration. That bill died in the Senate, however. Now that Republicans control the House, it’s unlikely any such legislation will go anywhere for the time being.
But there have been some glimmers of hope for more modest legislation aimed at working parents. In the omnibus bill passed late last year, Republicans joined with Democrats to include two significant provisions: one that guarantees basic workplace accommodations for pregnant employees, and another that expands workplace protections for women who are breastfeeding. In a sign of how much support they had, the two measures passed, 73-24 and 92-5, respectively.
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Duckworth said the pandemic may have helped change some lawmakers’ perspectives on these issues.
“People are finally understanding the decisions people are having to make,” she said. “It became much more visible, people having to choose between going to work sick and keeping a paycheck, or in many of these cases just dropping out of the workforce.”
According to Duckworth, making sure a school bus driver can take leave without losing their job shouldn’t be such a heavy lift.
“It’s the bare minimum we should be providing,” she said.
