San Francisco and New York lead the charge on paid family leave.
The United States is the only industrialized country that does not guarantee paid family leave for its workers, leading some states (and now a city) to take the bull by the horns.
In early April, San Francisco became the first city in the country to approve six weeks of fully paid leave for new parents, CNN reports.
The measure, which still needs to be signed into law by the city’s mayor, means new parents (mothers, fathers and same-sex couples) who give birth to or adopt a child will get their entire salaries covered during their leaves. The law is expected to take effect Jan. 1 for companies with 50 or more employees.
A day earlier, New York passed its own law on paid family leave, following in the footsteps of California, New Jersey and Rhode Island. While California and New Jersey offer six weeks off per year with some pay, and Rhode Island offers four weeks with some pay, New York is offering up to 12 weeks for two-thirds pay, according to CNN.
From Obamacare to ColoradoCare? State mulls its own universal coverage.
A plan to ditch the Affordable Care Act for a resident-owned, nongovernmental healthcare financing system will go before Colorado voters in November, The New York Times reports.
The estimated $38-billion-a-year proposal—called ColoradoCare—would do away with deductibles and allow patients to choose doctors and specialists without distinguishing between “in network” and “out of network.” It largely would be paid for with a tax increase on workers and businesses, and it would cover everyone in the state. A 10% tax on payroll and incomes to pay for the system would push Colorado’s tax rates to some of the highest in the nation, according to the Times.
First Hawaii, then California. Will Vermont be next to raise tobacco age?
The Vermont House has sent a bill to the Senate that would increase the state’s age for buying tobacco products from 18 to 21 over the next three years, reports WCVB, an ABC-affiliated TV station.
The bill exempts active-duty members of the military and wounded veterans. It also off sets an anticipated loss in revenue from no longer selling tobacco to 18- to 20-year-olds by increasing the tax on a pack of cigarettes by 13 cents a year until 2019.
If approved, Vermont would join Hawaii and California, both of which have set the buying age for tobacco at 21. However, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin said, through a spokesman, that he does not support the measure, WCVB reports.
Indicators
- 8 - Amount of failed attempts in six years by lawmakers to implement a soda tax in California, the Associated Press reports. The latest proposal—voted down in April—would have imposed a 2-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks.
- $1.6 billion - Lost productivity and health-care expenses that tobacco use costs the military annually, which is leading U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter to issue new guidelines to curb use within America’s military, Reuters reports. The policy includes raising the prices of tobacco on military bases to take into account taxes charged in local communities. Today, tobacco products sold on U.S. bases are tax-free.
- 43 - Number of cities and local municipalities to pass flavored-tobacco bans. Activity increased in 2015, with Minneapolis, St. Paul, Minn., and Boston all passing laws, according to NATO.
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